rvo^e.^. 


- V;  ; 


fx  - 

1 WmhM 


UNIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS 
LIBRARY 


Class 


Book  Volume 


Ja  09-20M 


SPEECH 


/ 


MR.  DUNCAN,  OF  OHIO, 


ON  THE 


ILL  TO  AUTHORIZE  THE  ISSUE  OF  TREASURY  ROTES 


DELIVERKD 


IN  COMMITTEE  OF  THE  WHOLE. 


HOUSE  OF  REPRESENTATIVES,  MARCH  26,  1840, 


WASHINGTON: 

PRINTED  AT  THE  GLOBE  OFFICE. 


1840 


v 3 Z fj 

K 

3. 


ot  ■ 


■ ' 1 


*rA; 


<6 

y 


1*3 


SPEECH. 


In  the  Howe  of  Repeesentalives , March  26,  1840 — In 
Commit ee  of  the  Whole,  on  the  bill  to  authorize 
the  issue  of  Treasury  notes. 

Mr.  Chairman  : It  ^as  my  intention  to  have 
let  the  Opposition  do  all  the  talking  on  this  mea- 
sure, but  such  has  been  the  spread  of  misrepresen- 
tation of  tacts,  prejudicial  to  the  Administration 
and  all  its  measures,  for  political  effect,  that  it  be- 
comes my  duty,  in  justice  to  myself,  to  make  a few 
remarks,  by  way  of  defence.  When  the  Adminis- 
tra'ion  is  broadly  and  unqualifiedly  denounced  in 
every  Ftderal  Whig  speech  made  here,  as  the  most 
corrupt  of  corruptions,  and  all  its  measures  as  lead- 
ing to  the  overthrow  of  this  Government  and  the 
destruction  of  the  people’s  be  t interests,  it  becomes 
a duty — which  every  member  here  owes  to  himself, 
who  is  a supporter  of  the  Administration  and  its 
measures  and  piinciples — to  repel  such  charges. 
It  is  in  the  exercue  of  this  duty  I will  ask  your  at- 
tention for  a short  time,  as  well  as  to  discharge  an 
obligation  I feel  myself  under  to  the  Administration. 

The  bill  now  under  consideration  is  one  for  the 
relief  of  the  Government.  Its  very  title  and  the 
necessity  of  its  existence  ought  to  rally  every  pa- 
triot to  its  support.  What  has  superinduced  its  ne- 
cessity? I answer,  the  unhappy  connection  of  the 
Government  with  the  banks.  In  May,  1837,  the 
banks s'opped  payment  with  upwards  of  thirty  mil- 
lions of  the  public  revenue  in  their  possession,  and 
left  the  Government  without  a dollar  to  perfom  its 
fiscal  operations.  As  a matter  of  necessity  the  Pre- 
sident called  Congress  for  the  purpose  of  devising 
ways  and  means  by  which  the  wheels  of  Govern- 
ment might  continue  to  roll.  Congress  met. 
What  was  to  be  done?  The  banks  set  the  Go- 
vernment and  all  its  laws  at  defiance.  The  Go- 
vernment held  bonds  against  our  importing  mer- 
chants to  the  amount  of  fourteen  millions;  but  no 
relief  was  found  in  this  resource,  for  the  banks 
owned  the  merchants.  I say,  what  was  to  be  done? 
Nothing  but  to  use  the  credit  of  the  Government. 
How  was  that  to  be  used?  But  two  plans  pre- 
sented themselves.  The  one  was  the  issue  of 
Treasury  no:es  to  the  amount  of  the  wants  cf 
the  Government,  or  to  apply  to  the  moneyed 
aristocracy  of  Europe  for  a loan.  The  former 
was  adopted — the  entire  Democracy  voting  for 
and  Sustaining  it  against  the  entire  Federal  par- 
ty, who  were  in  favor  of  the  latter. 


The  act  then  passed  to  authorize  the  issue 
of  Treasury  notes,  has  once  or  twice  been 
renewed  since,  from  the  same  necessity,  and  that 
is  the  object  of  the  present  bill.  I herewith 
submit  an  extract  from  the  Treasurer’s  report, 
which  will  illustrate.  ‘The  Treasurer  savs: 

Thus,  as  to  a permanent  deficiency  in  184P,  the  Secretary 
says: 

“I  he  efficient  means  in  that  year  will  then  amount,  in  the  ag- 
gregate, to  - - - - - $20,156,385 

If  Congress  should  make  appropriations  to  the  extent 
desired  by  the  different  Departments,  the  expendi- 
tures for  1840,  independent  of  the  redemption  of 
Treasury  notes,  are  estimated  at  - - 20,000,000 

Including  all  the  Treasury  notes  to  be  redeemed,  the 
aggregate  expenditure  would  be  about  - 22,750,000 

This  would  leave  a deficit  in  the  Treasury,  at  the 
close  of  the  year,  amounting  to  - - 2.593,315 

He  then  adds,  that  certain  debts  are  due  from  the  State  banka 
and  the  United  States  Bank,  which,  if  paid  duly,  will  prevent  a. 
deficit;  hut  that  it  is  not  prudent  to  rely  exclusively  on  the  pay- 
ment of  those  debts,  and  hence  that  other  modes  of  obviating  oir 
meeting  it  are  proper.  Thus  he  states: 

But  there  will  be  due  from  the  United  States  Bank,  in  Septem- 
ber next,  on  its  fourth  bond,  about  - - $2, 526,575- 

The  principal  now  due  on  the  Treasurer’s  depositea 
in  other  banks,  which  suspended  specie  payments 
in  1837,  is  .....  l,149,904r 

Should  all  these  claims  be  collected  in  1840,  they 
would  prevent  a deficiency,  and  leave  an  available 
balance  in  the  Treasury  of  nearly  - - $1,082,865- 

It  is  not,  however,  considered  prudent  to  reply  exclusively  on. 
the  collection  of  these  debts. 

One  mode,  then,  of  obviating  any  difficulty  from  that  circum- 
stance, will  be  to  reduce  the  aggregate  of  law  appropriations, 
by  postponing  some,  and  lessening  others,  so  that  the  means 
probably  available  will  be  sufficient  to  meet  all  calls  upon  the 
Treasury,  and  leave  in  it  an  average  balance  of  about  two  mil- 
lions.” 

He  then  adds,  afterwards: 

1‘  But,  when  acting  on  these  or  other  cases,  if  Congress  can- 
not, consistently  with  its  views  of  duty  to  the  countiy,  adopt 
the  course  suggested,  and  restrict  the  amount  of  appropria- 
tions, whether  ordinary  or  extraordinary,  to  the  certain  current- 
revenue,  the  only  remaining  courses  which  seem  defensible- 
are  these;  either  to  provide  for  recalling  poitions  of  the  public- 
money  now  deposited  with  States,  or  establish  an  adequate 
system  of  direct  taxation,  or  at  once  resort  to  the  contingent 
power  contemplated  in  the  existing  laws  connerning  the  tariff, 
when  changes  become  necessary  for  purposes  of  revenue,  and 
restore  the  duty  on  several  articles  of  luxury  now  free.” 

Thus  the  Secretary  urges  action  on  it  in  the  first 
half  of  the  year,  and  assigns  his  reasons  for  it: 

“All  these,  and  similar  considerations  in  favor  of  some  per- 
manent provision  on  this  subject,  apply  with  still  greater  forae 
than  they  have  heretofore.  The  available  balance  in  the  Trea- 
sury, to  facilitate  its  operations,  is  much  smaller  than  has  for- 
merly been  usual.  The  receipts  on  the  debts  still  due  from, 
banks,  after  two  previous  disappointments  as  to  some  of  them, 
must  be  regarded  with  increased  doubt;  and  if  they  should  ba 
paid  within  the  coining  year,  the  outstanding  Treasury  notes 
become  redeemable  in  the  first  half  of  it,  and  must  be  discharged 
some  months  before  the  bond  of  the  Bank  of  the  Uhited  State* 
falls  due  in  September.” 


In  conclusion,  he  adds: 

“The  Department,  therefore,  is  now  without  any  resort,  tem 
porary  orpermanent,  incase  of  niaierial  deficiencies,  and  con- 
eidering  all  the  circumstances  before  mentioned,  with  the  dan- 
gerous  liability  in  law  to  have  the  whole  outstanding  Treasury 
notes  paid  in  at  any  moment  for  public  dues,  without  a power 
remaining  to  issue  others  in  their  stead;  considering  also  the 
present  revulsion  in  the  commercial  world,  which  affects  so 
seriously  the  receipts  from  both  duties  and  lands;  considering 
the  disasters  which  are  befalling  the  banks,  and  rendering  our 
collected  funds  in  some  cases  wholly  unavailable,  and  the  ad- 
vances necessary  to  be  soon  made  for  the  large  pay  ment  of  pen- 
sions, and  Treasury  notes  falling  due  in  March,  the  earliest  at- 
tention to  new  legislation  on  this  subject  seems  highly  pru- 
dent, if  not  indispensable,  for  the  effectual  security  of  the  public 
credit.” 

But,  sir,  notwithstanding  this  plain,  honest,  and 
unsophisticated  s'atement  of  the  finances  of  the  Go- 
vernment and  the  necessity  of  this  measure,  which 
is  a part  of  the  Secretary’s  ieptrl,  and  plainly 
hinted  at  in  the  President’s!  message,  the  Presi- 
dent and  the  Secretary  have  been  charged,  in  the 
face  of  these  facts,  with  attempting  to  sull  and 
deceive  the  peop’e  by  withholding,  in  the  mes- 
sage and  leport,  the  real  state  of  the  finances.  Whai 
is  there  too  reckless  for  these  modern  Whigs  to  do? 
Sir,  I have  presented  ihe  expose  of  ihe  Secretary 
«f  the  Treasury.  It  is  sufficient  for  my  pur- 
pose to  show  ihe  necessity  of  ihe  issue  of  ihe 
amount  of  Treasury  notes  for  which  it  provides. 
An  intelligent  community  will  appreciate  ihe  im 
portance  and  necessity  of  the  measure,  li  has 
been  objected  to  on  constitutional  grounds.  This 
objection  I will  leave  to  ihose  who  assume  to  them- 
selves the  peculiar  and  exclusive  guardianship  ot 
Ihe  Constitution — to  those  whose  political  monoma- 
nia is  so  well  understood,  that  the  Constitution  has 
as  littie  to  fear  from  them  as  the  community  has  to 
fear  from  the  prophetic  p'edic  ions  of  the  lunatic 
pining  in  the  last  stages  of  refined  metaphysical 
abstraction. 

This  bill  has  been  in  CommiMee  of  the  Whole 
House  for  nearly  two  weeks.  The  chairman  of 
the  Committee  of  Ways  and  Means,  at  its  intro 
duction,  made  a short  explanatory  speech.  Another 
of  the  committee  [Mr.  Vanderf  el]  made  a short 
speech  of  the  same  character.  These  are  all  the 
Democratic  speeches  that  have  been  made  in  its 
behalf.  The  balance  of  the  whole  time  has  been 
consumed  by  the  Whigs. 

In  the  discussion,  every  measure  of  the  Adminis- 
trat  on  has  been  se  zed  on  and  made  the  subject 
of  unmeasurtd  abuse;  to  ad  of  which  I will  not  now 
attempt  to  respond.  I will  wait  for  the  action  of 
the  House  upon  another  measure  shortly  to  be  be- 
fo  e it,  (I  mean  the  Independent  Treasury;)  and  I 
will  n<  w confine  my  remarks  to  the  subject  of  the 
Florida  war. 

In  the  remarks  which  I am  about  to  make,  I 
may  use  language  which  may  be  considered  un- 
becoming this  place;  if  so,  it  must  be  charged  to 
the  unlimited  abuse  and  reckless  denunciations 
which  we  hear  everyday  and  every  hour  from  the 
Opposit  on,  and  which  we,  the  Adminbtration, 
and  the  whole  Democratic  party,  are  the  subjecis 
of;  and  this  is  alt  the  apology  I have  to  make. 

But  to  the  Florida  war. 

Mr.  Chairman,  I take  it  for  granted  that  an  at- 
tempt will  be  made  to  convert  every  measure  o- 
the  Administration,  now  before  the  country,  of  s 
general  character,  as  well  as  tho=e  of  a special  ra 
*ure,  more  immediately  connected  with  the  Adnai- 


1*4 

£ tr.% 

nistration  of  the  Government*  into  political  capital.. 
This,  the  Opposition  have  a political  right  to  do. 
I suppose  if  I were  a Federalist,  and  as  hard  run 
as  they  are,  I would  do  so  too.  At  a time  when 
the  financial  circumstances  of  Sparta  were  greatly 
embarrai-sed,  a person  offered  Callicia’idas  (her 
principal  commander)  50,000  crowns,  undr  such 
circumstances  as  Callrcraiidas  thought  dishonora- 
ble to  Sparta,  and  he  refused  to  accept  it;  upon 
which  Oleander,  one  of  his  officers,  said,  “I 
would  accept  the  offer  if  I were  in  your 
place;”  ‘and  so  would  I if  I were  in 
yours,”  said  Callicratidas.  I suppose  if  I pos- 
sessed the  same  principles  that  govern  them,  I 
would  take  the  same  means  which  they  do  to  carry 
them  our.  If  the  Federalism  have  a political  right 
to  'hwart  the  Administration  in  all  i s measures, 
right  or  wrong,  and  to  use  all  means,  fair  and  foul, 
to  bring  it  into  disrepute  with  the  people  at  home, 
and  dishonor  and  disgrace  abroad,  such  a right- 
is  not  exercised  in  patriotism,  nor  is  it  founded  in 
honor  or  justice;  and  while  they  are  exercising,  in 
base  and  unmanly  abme,  a privilege  which  finds 
a political  right  in  the  free  institutions  of  our  coun- 
try, rather  than  in  ihe  pure  principles  of  justice  or 
manly  and  honorable  resistance,  I hold  the  friends 
of  ibis  Administration  will  find  an  apology  with 
the  people  who  support  it,  in  using  a part  of  their 
lime  and  means  in  repelling  the  charges  which  con- 
stitute the  political  capital  of  the  Opposition. 
Among  the  many  measures  furnishing  charges 
(as  is  pretended)  of  corruption  and  profli- 
gacy against  the  Administration,  none  seems  to 
be  mo;e  fruitful  than  the  Florida  war.  Every  Whig 
in  the  country,  however  unacquainted  he  may  be 
with  the  Florida  war,  its  causes,  its  progress,  the 
difficulties  attending  its  management,  or  ihe  means 
the  Administration  have  or  have  not  had  to  termi- 
nate it,  takes  the  cue  from  this  Capitol,  and  yelps 
extravagance,  disgrace,  imbecility,  and  profligacy. 
Yes,  s r,  the  veiiest  coxcomb  that  ever  strutted  in 
buckram,  or  represented  the  brainless  dandy,  who 
never  heard  a musket  shot,  or  saw  an  Indian,  can 
chatter  the  failures  of  the  Florida  war,  and  pro- 
nounce sentence  upon  the  Admirfstration  and  the 
War  Department,  with  all  the  permess  of  a well 
taught  parrot;  and  from  th  s Capitol  proceeds  their 
lessson. 

Well,  sir,  while  the  Opposition  are  denouncing 
the  Administration  in  broad  and  unqualified  terms, 
without  defining  causes,  or  giving  reason*  for  the 
procrastination  of  the  war,  for  the  benefit,  of  those 
who  may  read  m°,  I will  ask  your  attention  a short 
time,  while  I briefly  trace  some  of1  ihe  difficulties 
which  the  Administration  have  had  to  enc  >un!er  in 
FI  oiid  a. 

Fiorida  is  sitaated  between  the  25th  and  31st  de- 
grees of  north  latitude.  It  is  bounded  on  the  south 
and  west  in  its  whole  extent  by  the  Gulf  of  Mexico, 
and  on  the  east  by  the  Atlantic  ocean,  in  its  whole 
extent  on  that  side.  It  is  near  lour  hundred  miles 
in  length,  and  its  average  breadth  is  near 
one  hundred  and  fifty  miles.  It  presents  a 
surface  nearly  level,  made  up  of  everglades, 
lakes,  swamps,  barren  pine  lands,  and  hammocks, 
with  some  good  and  well  s tuate  1 land;  of  each  of 
ihese  varieties  neatly  an  equal  quantity.  The 
swamps  are  almost  impassable,  and  the  hammocks 


almost  impenetrable  to  any  human  being,  except 
an  Indian. 

Within  the  half  century  of  the  time  when 
all  Europe  was  waked  up  by  the  discovery  of 
the  New  World,  and  when  men  dr.-amed  of  no- 
thing but  carving  out  provinces  by  the  sword,  of 
dividing  the  spoils  of  empires,  plundering  temples 
of  their  riches,  riding  upon  the  bilows  with  loads 
of  enslaved  captives,  and  despoiling  nations  of  their 
wealth  and  Governments,  or  “to  plunder  the  accu- 
mulated treasures  of  same  ancient  Indian  dynasty.” 
I say  it  was  about  this  time,  or  in  1512,  that  Juan 
Ponce  de  Leon,  an  adventurer  ofS  ain,  discovered 
Florida,  and,  in  the  name  of  Ferdinand,  made 
Spain  its  owner.  Ponce,  as  a reward  for  his  disco- 
very, was  made  its  Governor,  on  condition  that  he 
would  colonize  it.  Some  tune  after  this  dignity 
was  conferred  upon  him,  he  repairel,  with  two 
ship  loads,  to  take  possession  of  his  new  province, 
and  select  a site  for  a colony.  He  had  not  more 
than  landed,  when  his  crew  were  attacked  by  the 
Florida  Indians,  many  of  his  men  killed,  and  him- 
self mortally  wounded.  He  and  the  remainder  of 
his  men  hastened  to  the  ships,  and  sailed  to  Cuba, 
where  he  died  of  his  wounds. 

The  next  attempt  to  colonize  Florida  was  made 
in  1528,  by  Pamphelo  de  Navarez.  He  entered 
Florida  with  three  hundred  men,  some  of  whom 
were  mounted.  He  was  attacked  by  the  Indians, 
and  but  five  escaped,  all  the  rest  of  whom  fell  a 
sacrifice  to  the  Ind  ans,  pesti  enc?,  or  famine.  The 
love  of  discovery,  plunder,  and  wealth,  still  raged, 
nor  did  all  these  disasters  prevent  another  attempt 
to  seek  fortunes  in  Florida.  Ferdinand  de  Soto, 
an  ambitious  courtier,  embarked  with  seven  or 
eight  hundred  troops  (some  of  whom  were  mount- 
ed) and  emigrants.  No  sooner  were  they  landed 
than  the  Indians  made  them  a sacrifice  to  their 
cunning,  by  leading  them  through  swamps,  ever- 
glades, and  hammocks,  scarcely  passable  or  pene- 
trable, in  search  of  gold,  until  they  were  sunk  with 
fatigue,  and  los'.  in  the  wilderness;  but,  stimulated 
■with  prospect*,  they  were  led  sti  1 further,  until 
they  were  beyond  the  province,  and  yet  no  sold; 
but  the  Peruvian  pro^p  cts  led  them  high  in  the  re- 
gions of  the  Red  river,  but  famine  and  pestilence 
compelled  them  to  retrace  their  march  io  the  Mis- 
sissippi, where,  when  they  arrived,  scarce  one 
third  of  their  number  were  alive,  and,  with  some 
frail  and  temporary  boa's  of  hasty  construction, 
they  reached  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  where  they  ware 
accidentally  picked  up,  and  taken  to  Cuba. 

Another  attempt  was  made,  wih  more  relig  ous 
solemnity,  to  settle  Florida,  in  1547.  Through  the 
influence  of  Philip,  then  heir  apparent  to  the  crown 
of  Spa  n,  Louis  Caneello,  a missionary  of  the  Do- 
minican order,  gained  permission  to  visit  Florida, 
and  attempt  the  peaceful  and  Christian  conversion 
of  the  natives.  All  the  Governors  of  the  Spanish 
colonies  were  directed  t>  f ivor  the  undertaking 
All  means  that  were  ca'culat'd  »o  advance  the 
measure  ware  advised.  The  slaves  that  had  been 
taken  nonh  of  the  Gulf  of  Mexico  were  manu- 
mitted and  restored  lo  their  country.  A ship  was 
fitted  out,  and  the  holy  crew  dismissed  with  more 
than  usual  solemnity;  but  Louis  had  no  sooner 
landed,  than  he  and  a fellow  priest,  with  several  of 
his  crew,  were  slaughtered.  Florida  was  aban- 


JtZ  . 

doned.  It  seemed  as  if  Death  made  the  avenues 
of  Florida  his  abode,  and  guarded  its  shores. 
While  Victory  perched  upon  the  Castilian  stan- 
dard every  where  else,  the  sands  of  Florida  were 
perpetually  wet  with  Spanish  blood. 

The  French  turned  their  attention  to  Florida,  and 
planted  a colony,  by  a commission  from  Charles 
IX.  The  squadron  which  bore  them  was  com- 
manded by  John  Rebault,  a brave  man,  of  mari- 
time experience.  They  were  landed,  but  re- 
mained but  a short  time,  and,  in  their  re  re  at, 
came  near  famishing  on  the  ocean.  After  the 
treacherous  peace  between  Charles  IX.  and 
the  Huguenots,  Coligny  pushed  his  solicitations 
for  the  colonization  of  Florida.  Tne  king  gave  his 
con-ent;  threj  ships  were  conceded  for  the  service, 
and  Laudon'  iery,  who  had  been  on  a former  voy- 
age on  the  American  coast,  was  appointed  to  lead 
forth  the  colony.  Sixty  days  of  favorable  wind 
landed  them  on  the  shores  of  Florida.  The  bene- 
fits of  the  new  colony  of  Huguenots  was  enjoyed  but 
a short  time,  when  the  jealousy  of  Spain  was 
aroused.  Melendez  was  appointed  and  commis- 
sioned by  Philip  If,  king  of  Spain,  to  invade  Flo- 
rida, and  dispossess  the  Huguenots — and  himself 
made  Governor  of  the  terruory.  He  was  accord- 
ingly fitted  out  wi  h the’ requisite  force,  munitions 
and  supplies.  A tempestuous  voyage  landed  him, 
with  most  of  his  forcss,  at  the  harbor  of  St.  Augus- 
tine. So  m the  Huguenots  were  attacked  and  mas- 
sacred in  a manner  of  which  I shall  not  now  shock 
humanity  with  a description,  but  which,  for  barba- 
rity and  cold  blooded  inhumanity,  has  not  its  paral- 
lel in  the  annals  of  savage  or  civilized  warfaie,  ex- 
cept in  the  heart-sickening  rcenes  of  blood  and  in- 
d scrimmate  slaughter  which  have  marked  the  Flo- 
rida war.  This  last  invasion  secured  Spain  in  the 
possession  of  Florida,  and  her  blood-stained 
troops,  who  intermarried  with  the  natives,  be- 
came her  occupants.  Their  blood  now  flows  in 
the  veins  of  those  with  whnm  we  were  bat- 
tling. The  French  court  paid  but  little  attention 
to  that  brutal  and  inhuman  slaughter  of  the  Hugue- 
nots. But  the  French  nation  and  the  Huguenots  of 
France  did  not  share  in  the  apathy  of  the  court. 
Dominic  de  Gourgues,  a bold  solder  of  Gasconv,  by 
his  own  means  and  some  contributions  of  his 
friends,  filed  out.  three  vessels,  and  with  a force  of 
one  hundted  and  fifty,  sailed  for  Florida.  He  did 
not  expect  with  this  force  to  occupy  <he  country 
permanently;  his  object  was  revenge.  He  surprised 
two  forts  and  took  a number  of  prisoners,  but  find- 
ing himself  unable  to  maint  iin  his  position,  he  hung 
his  prisoners  upon  the  trees  and  placed  over  them 
the  inscription:  “I  do  net  this  as  unto  Spaniards 
and  manners,  but  as  unto  traitors,  robbers 
and  murderers;”  and  hastily  sailed  for  Europe. 
Some  short  time  before  the  commence- 
ment of  the  Revolutionary  war,  an  Eng- 
lishman by  the  name  of  Turnbull  brought  a 
vessel  loaded  with  Greeks  to  Flor  da,  under  a pro- 
mise that  they  should  be  provided  with  a home,  but 
who,  as  soon  as  landed,  were  reduced  to  slaverv, 
and  consigned  to  the  sugar  farms.  A part  of  them 
made  their  escape  into  the  interior,  and  found  a 
safe  retreat  among  the  Indians,  with  whom  they 
intermarried.  A part  of  them  were  restored  to 
liberty  by  the  interference  of  Pilican,  whose  name 


iV 


a creek  now  on  the  Atlantic  side  of  Florida  bears. 
Florida  has  Ion?;  been  the  retreat  and  asylum  of 
negro  slaves;  they  have  long  found  protection  by 
the  Indians,  with  whom  they  intermarry,  and  their 
offspring  now  make  a part  of  the  savages  of  that 
Territory. 

Spain,  it  is  well  known,  was  largely  indebted  to 
the  United  States  for  spoliations  committed  upon 
American  commerce.  Our  claims  were  liquidated 
by  a cession  of  Florida,  by  what  is  known  to  be 
the  Spanish  treaty,  signed  and  conhrmed  July 
10th,  1821,  which  is  recognised  substantially  as 
follows: 

“Whereas,  by  the  treaty  concluded  between  the  United  States 
and  Spain  on  the  22d  day  of  February,  1819,  and  duly  ratified, 
the  provinces  of  the  Floridas  were  ceded  by  Spain  to  the  United 
States,  and  the  possession  of  the  said  provinces  is  now  in  the 
United  States.” 

By  this  treaty,  I say,  Florida  became  a Territory  of 
the  United  S ates;  and  by  the  provisions  of  ihe  treaty 
the  Federal  Government  was,  and  is,  the  exclu- 
sive owner  of  the  soil,  and  holds  the  same  in  fee 
simp'e,  except  such  portions  as  were  owned  and 
occupied  by  citizens,  pursuing  civibzed  cultivation; 
and  they,  by  that  treaty,  became  citizens  of  the 
United  States,  and  were  bound  and  protected  by  their 
laws.  The  kingdom  of  Spain  had  a right  to  occu- 
py Florida  by  the  laws  of  nations-  and,  having  the 
right  to  occupy,  had  the  right  to  convey,  and  did 
convey.  The  United  States,  by  the  la  ws  of  na- 
tions, had  the  right  to  purcha-e,  and  did  purchase 
The  conveyance  was  full  and  unconditional,  as 
appears  by  ihe  whole  treaty,  and  every  part  thereof; 
in  consequence  of  which  the  United  States  forth- 
with extended  her  jurisdiction  over  the  whole  terri- 
tory. But  it  is  said  and  asserted  by  the  Indians 
that  the  Spanish  agent  assured  them,  through  their 
chiefs,  that  it  was  not  the  intention  of  the  Spanish 
Government  to  cede  any  portion  of  Florida  to  the 
United  States,  except  what  was  then  occupied  by 
those  puuuing  the  occupations  of  civilized  life,  nor 
one  ac  e “ on  this  side  ” of  the  furrow  of  the  p’ough 
share.  Such  an  exception  may  have  been  made 
with  the  Indians ; if  so,  it  was  a fraud  prac- 
tised on  them  by  the  Spaniards,  or  their  agent; 
but,  as  they  were  no  parly  to  the  contract,  and  the 
United  S ates  having  had  no  patt  in  the  promised 
reservation,  consequently  their  right  to  the  exclu- 
sive jurisdiction  to  ihe  whole  territory  and  their 
freehold  in  the  soil  is  absolute. 

But  the  right  of  ihe  United  States  to  the  freehold 
of  Florida  does  not  depend  upon  the  cession  of 
Spain,  the  right  of  occupancy  by  conquest,  nor  the 
arbi  rary  laws  of  nations.  The  Federal  Govern- 
ment pu  chased  from  ihe  Florida  Indans,  in  1823, 
upwards  of  three  millions  of  acres,  for  which  the 
sum  of  one  hundred  and  six  thousand  dollars  wa? 
paid;  and  in  1834,  four  million  thirty-two  thou- 
sand six  hundred  and  forty  acres,  for  which  the  sum 
of  two  hundred  and  ninety-five  thousand  five  hun- 
dred dollars  was  paid. 

The  possession  of  the  United  States  to  the  terri- 
tory, and  jurisdiction  over  it,  seemed  to  be  undis- 
puted until  1835,  when  the  supposed  claims  of  the 
Indian?  were  asserted  by  some  of  those  barbarous 
outrages  and  cold-blooded  murders  which  have  sig- 
nalized the  Florida  war  from  its  beginning  to  this 
lime. 

Now,  sir,  I am  prepared  to  respond  to  some  of 


the  charges  made  against  the  Administi  ation,  and 
particularly  against  the  War  Department,  for  the 
manner  in  which  this  war  has  been  conducted,  its 
procrastination,  the  millions  it  has  cost  the  Govern- 
ment, and  the  alleged  imbecility  of  some  of  the  of- 
ficers who  have  had  charge  of  it.  I have  before 
stated,  and  I now  say,  that  all  these  charges  are 
made  for  political  effect — made  t > blast  the  reputa- 
tion of  the  Administration,  to  sink  the  cau  e of  De- 
mocracy, and  advance  the  Federal  came;  and  in 
character  and  concert  with  the  never-ceasing 
torrent  of  slander  and  reckless  abuse  which  has 
been  poured  upon  every  Democratic  Administration, 
from  the  days  of  Jefferson  to  this  time,  and  will  be 
continued,  while  the  Democracy  sways  the  Go- 
vernment. I mean  what  I say,  and  I say  what  I 
mean.  I will  now  ask  your  attention,  while  I pre- 
sent the  history  and  practical  operations  of  the 
Florida  war ; the  nature  of  the  country,  which 
is  its  theatre;  the  character  of  the  enemy  with 
whom  we  are  contending,  and  the  embarrassments 
under  which  the  Executive  and  the  War  Depart- 
ment have  had  to  labor. 

I have  stated  that  the  Florida  war  broke  out’ 
late  in  1835.  It  will  be  remembered,  at  that  time 
we  were  threatened  with  a war  with  France.  The 
time  had  arrived  when  our  claims  upon  France 
for  spoliations  could  no  longer  be  deferred,  without 
subjecting  ourselves  to  the  charge  of  national  de- 
gradation and  submissive  cowardice.  General 
Jacki-on,  who  then  administered  the  Government, 
was  compelled,  in  his  message  c-n  that  subject,  to 
recommend  reprisals  on  French  vessels  and  French 
property,  as  the  only  means  of  redress  left.  This 
was  a virtual  declaration  of  war;  a reciprocal 
declaration  of  war  on  the  part  of  France,  or  a 
liquidation  of  our  c’aims,  was  the  only  aiterna- 
tive  left  her.  To  her  national  honor,  and  the  ! 
cause  of  justice,  she  chose  and  fulfilled  the 
latter;  but  while  she  was  contemplating  the 
course  she  should  take,  war  hung  over 
our  heads,  and  at  the  same  time  the  Indian: 
war  was  laging  in  Florida.  The  Administra- 
tion was  denounced  from  Maine  to  Florida  by 
every  corrupt  Federal  sheet  and  every  Federal 
strut  in  the  land,  for  not  subduing  the  enemy  in 
Florida,  and  for  not  defending  the  poor  Floridians 
from  the  merciless  tomahawk  and  th?  torch  of 
the  Indian — when  it  was  well  known  by  every 
intelligent  man  in  the  Union,  and  acknowledged 
by  every  honest  one,  that  the  safety  and  the  inte- 
rest of  the  nation  demanded  that  the  whole 
force  of  the  American  troops  should  be  kept  on 
t’  e seaboard  so  long  as  the  French  war  threa- 
tened us.  What  was  the  trving  situation  of  the 
Administration  then,  sir?  While  every  Federal 
demagogue  and  every  bank  pensioned  sheet  was 
denouncing  it  for  not  sending  troops  to  Florida,  5he 
safety  and  dignity  of  the  nation  forbade  it.  The 
candid,  though  honest,  acknowledgment  o^its  ina- 
bility to  do  so,  was  prevented  by  a laudable  and 
necessary  national  pride;  and  the  Administration 
was  prohibited  the  exercise  of  a just  and  what 
would  have  been  a triumphant  defence  against  the 
vile  calumnies  of  the  times;  for,  had  the  Admi- 
nistration, or  its  supporters,  acknowledged  i>s  ina- 
bility to  withdraw  troops  from  the  seaboard  to  de- 
fend our  frontier  from  the  barbarity  of  the  In- 


■<*  t> 

2 


dians,  it  would  have  been  a virtual  acknowledgment 
of  our  inability  to  contend  with  France  in  the 
war  in  wh  ch  we  were  about  to  embark,  and  which 
we  ourselves  had  virtually  declared;  and  France 
would  not  have  failed  to  have  taken  advantage  of 
our  acknowledged  weakness.  Sir,  I say  if  such 
an  acknowledgment  had  been  made  by  the  Admi- 
nistration, our  claims  on  France  (would  be  now 
unliquidated,  and  we  would,  at  this  day,  in  all  pro- 
bability, be  in  the  midst  of  a war  with  her.  But  an 
acknowledgment,  which  was  due  in  justice  to  the 
Administradon. 

Our  Government  is  one  of  limited  pow- 
ers. The  Executive  of  our  Government  is  an 
officer,  bound  by  limitations.  He  is  not  a Rus- 
sian autocrat,  with  a standing  army  of  six  hundred 
thousand  regular  troops,  and  with  power  to  older 
as  many  more,  and  with  power  to  raise  the  means 
to  maintain  them.  No,  sir,  our  Constitution  pro- 
vides “that  the  President  be  Commander-in-Chief 
of  the  army  and  navy  of  the  United  States,  and  of 
the  militia  of  the  several  States,  when  called  into 
the  actual  service  of  the  United  States.”  The 
power  to  declare  war,  raise  armies,  and  to  maintain 
them,  belongs  to  Congress,  and  net  to  the  Presi- 
dent. So  far  as  legislation  is  concerned,  the  Pre- 
sident is  but  a co-ordinate  b anch  of  Congress,  and 
his  positive  powers  are  confined  to  the  signing  of 
bills  which  may  pass  the  Senate  and  House  of 
Represen'atives — his  negative  powers  consist  in 
withholding  his  signature,  and  that  power  avai’s 
him  nothing  should  a bill  pass  both  popular 
branches  of  Congress  by  a vote  of  two-thirds  of 
each  branch.  This  is  the  amount  of  power  the 
President  has  in  raising  and  maintaining  armies. 
What  w?s  the  Administration  to  do  at  the  lime  I 
am  speaking?  Threatened  with  war  by  France; 
actually  involved  in  war  in  Florida,  and  the  un- 
stoyed  tomahawk  performing,  in  savage  barbarity, 
the  work  of  death;  beset  with  slander  and  falsehood 
by  every  unprincipled,  corrupt  newspaper  sheet, 
and  every  unprincipled  Federal  coxcomb  dema- 
gogue in  >he  land;  without  the  power  to  preserve 
the  country,  or  rtsist  the  enemy;  and  without  the 
power  (in  prudent  exercise)  of  justifying  itself 
against  the  bare  slanders  heap-d  upon  it,  by  de- 
claring its  want  of  ability;  what,  I ask,  was  the  Ex- 
ecutive to  do?  Why.  there  was  but  one  duty  for 
him  to  perform;  but  one  power  for  him  10  exercise; 
and  that  duty  and  that  power  was  prescribed  by  the 
Constitution,  as  follows: 

He  (the  President)  shall,  from  time  to  time,  give  to  the  Con- 
gress information  of  the  state  of  the  Union,  and  recommend  to 
their  consideration  such  measures  as  he  shall  judge  necessary 
and  expedient. 

This  duty  and  this  power  was  exercised.  The 
Executive,  through  the  Secretary  cf  War,  early  in 
1835  made  a communication  to  the  Senate,  in  which 
he  set  forih  the  embarrassments  of  the  country, 
with  reference  to  our  foreign  dangers,  and  the  war 
in  Florida,  and  in  which  he  urged  upon  Congress 
the  importance  and  indispensable  necessity  of 
augmenting  the  army.  This  message  was  referred 
to  the  Committee  on  Military  Affairs,  of  which 
the  honorable  R.  M.  Johnson  was  chairman.  The 
necessity  of  the  measure  was  properly  appreciated 
by  the  committee  and  the  Senate,  and  a bill  to  in- 
crease the  army  was  reported,  and  passed  by  the 
Senate.  It  went  to  the  House,  but  did  not  receive 


its  action.  The  same  measure  was  urged  upon 
Congress  by  the  Executive  at  its  next  session;  it 
was  again  referred  to  the  Committee  on  Military" 
Affairs,  and  a bill  to  augment  the  army  reported; 
and  passed  by  the  Senate,  but  failed  in  the  House. 
Thus  was  the  Executive  thwarted  in  obtaining  the 
means  by  which  the  Florida  war  would,  in  all  pro- 
bability, have  been  instantly  suppressed,  and  much 
innocent  blood,  and  many  millions  of  money  been 
saved;  and  yet  the  reckle  s and  demagogical  cry 
of  imbecility  and  extravagance  is  raised  by  one 
universal  Federal  yelp  against  the  Administration,, 
for  that  which  Congress  failed  to  put  in  its  power 
to  do. 

I now  proceed  to  expose  the  policy  pursued  ia 
relation  to  the  Florida  war,  which  will  account  for 
the  useless  expenditure  of  millions,  the  procrastina- 
tion of  the  war,  and  the  hearisickening  shed  of 
blood,  human  slaughter,  and  destruction  of  pro- 
perty, and  a policy,  too  at  war,  with  every  effort  of 
the  Executive  and  the  War  Department  of  this 
Government;  an  exposition  which,  I think,  the 
intelligent  reader  will  understand  aud  appreciate* 
and  will  know  where,  and  on  whom,  to  lay  the 
blame  of  all  our  failures  and  misfortunes  in  the 
Florida  war. 

As  soon  as  our  difficulties  with  France  were 
settled,  the  United  States  troops  were  ordered  to 
Florida,  or  so  many  of  them  as  were  not  necessary 
to  remain  with  our  fortifications.  But  the  number 
was  insufficient.  Congress  had  failed  to  augment 
the  regular  army.  No  other  course  was  left  for 
the  Executive  but  to  make  drafts  upon  the  militia 
for  volunteers.  This  was  done  at  a most  frightful 
expense,  and  frequently  resulted  in  little  more  than 
marching  and  countermarching — that  is,  marching  to 
Florida  and  marching  back  again,  such  was  the 
limited  time  for  which  they  volunteered,  and  such 
the  distance  they  had  to  march. 

I will  enumerate  some  of  those  marches. 

In  January,  1836,  when  the  news  of  Dade’s  mas- 
sacre reached  New  Orleans,  General  Gaines  raised 
a corps  of  volunteers,  and,  united  with  a few  regu- 
lars, marched  them  from  Louisiana  to  Florida, 
where  they  served  until  the  ensuing  May,  when 
they  were  marched  back  to  their  homes,  and  dis- 
charged. 

In  the  month  of  February  of  that  year,  two 
armies  of  volunteers  and  militia,  between  three 
and  four  thousand  strong,  were  raised  by  General 
Scott,  one  in  South  Carolina  and  Georgia,  the 
other  in  Alabama,  and  marched  to  Florida,  where 
they  served  about  sidy  days , and  were  then  marched 
back  and  discharged. 

In  the  month  of  June  following,  a brigade  of 
mounted  volunteers  was  organized  in  Tennessee, 
and  put  in  march  for  Florida.  It  halted  a white  in. 
the  Creek  country,  and  entered  Florida  late  in  Sep- 
tember, where  it  served  until  December,  when  its 
term  of  service  expired,  and  it  then  took  up  the  line 
of  inarch  on  its  return  to  Tennessee,  in  the  midst 
of  the  campaign  then  in  progress. 

The  departure  of  the  Tennessee  volunteers  for 
home  at  a critical  period  of  the  campaign,  imposed 
upon  the  commanding  General  the  necessity  of 
calling  upon  Georgia  and  Alabama  for  another 
contribution;  and  accordingly,  a corps  of  volunteers 
was  again  organized  in  each  of  those  States,  and 


£*.*  * • 

^4 


marched  from  thence  into  Florida,  where  they 
served  about  three  months , when  they  likewise  com- 
menced their  return  march  to  their  homes. 

In  the  fall  of  1837,  the  Executive  made  a very 
energetic  effort  to  close  the  war  during  the  then  ap- 
proaching winter;  and  a large  force  of  volunteers 
was  drawn  from  Georgia,  Alabama,  Tennessee, 
Louisiana,  and  Mississippi,  in  the  hope  of  effecting 
that  object.  They  arrived  in  December,  and  served 
through  the  winter,  when  they  were  marched  back 
to  their  remote  homes,  and  discharged. 

From  this  brief  review,  it  is  seen  that  as  many 
as  five  volunteer  armies,  from  first  to  last,  have 
been  raised,  organized,  and  marched  from  distant 
parts  to  Florida,  to  serve  two  or  three  months,  and 
then  marched  back  to  their  homes.  I have  no 
means  of  knowing  the  precise  number  thus  mus- 
tered into  service,  and  then  mustered  out  again, 
but  from  what  information  I have  been  able  to 
gather,  the  whole  number  was  not  less  than  twenty 
thousand,  exclusive  of  the  Florida  militia  who 
were  in  the  country. 

Now,  sir,  when  we  consider  that  the  expenses  of 
militia  and  volunteers  commence  under  the  law, 
(see  act  of  20tli  April,  1818,)  the  moment  they 
leave  their  homes,  even  while  marching  to  the 
rendezvous,  and  continue  un'il  they  are  marched 
back  again  to  the  same  place,  I ask,  can  there  be 
any  wonder  with  the  honest  and  reflecting  mind, 
that  such  operations  as  I have  described  should 
have  been  expensive,  more  especially  when  it  is 
considered  that  scarcely  any  but  mounted  volun- 
teers can  be  obtained,  and  these,  including  their 
horses  and  forage,  cost,  I am  informed,  near  six 
times  as  much  as  regular  foot  soldiers. 

The  commanding  general  is  responsible  for  the 
expenses  incurred  by  the  operations  of  the  army, 
after  it  is  placed  in  the  field  under  his  command. 
The  Executive  is  respons  ble  tor  the  judicious  ap- 
plication of  the  means  placed  at  his  disposal  by 
Congress  to  carry  on  war.  But  Congress  is  clear- 
ly responsible  for  the  inadequacy  or  unfitness  of 
those  means,  and  for  all  the  consequences  resulting 
therefrom,  especially  if  the  recommendations  of  the 
Execu.ive  have  been  disregarded  or  overruled,  as 
they  have  been  throughout  the  Florida  war. 

If,  then,  it  be  true,  as  I think  it  is,  and  as  every 
man  will  think  who  will  examine  the  subject,  that 
the  heavy  expenses  of  the  Florida  war  have  re- 
sulted chiefly  from  the  employment  of  volunteers 
and  militia,  instead  of  regular  troops,  the  respon- 
sibility for  those  expenses  clearly  attaches  to  Con- 
gress, rather  than  to  the  Executive,  or  to  the  subor- 
dinate officers  acting  under  the  Executive  autho- 
rity. 

The  army  was  increased  in  July,  1838,  since 
which,  there  have  been  but  few  volunteers  or 
militia  employed,  and  none  drawn  from  a distance. 
The  consequences  have  been,  that  the  expenses  of 
the  war  have  been  greatly  reduced,  as  an  exami- 
nation will  show.  The  expenses  of  the  last  cam- 
paign have  been  any  thing  but  extravagaut,  the 
force  be  ng  nearly  all  regulats. 

Sir,  I feel  myseT  bound  here  to  speak  of  the  ser 
vices  of  Colonel  T.  Cross,  who  has  had  charge  of 
the  quartermaster  department  in  Florida  during 
the  last  campaign.  That  officer  has  distinguished , 


himself  in  that  capacity  as  he  has  in  every  other 
official  station  which  he  has  held  under  the  Govern- 
ment. It  is  due  to  him  to  say  that  he  has  been  the 
pracdcal  agent,  by  which  the  system  of  reform,  re- 
gularity and  retrenchment,  has  been  adopted  in  the 
conduct  of  the  a^my  in  Florida,  by  which  not  less 
than  from  two  to  three  hundred  thousand  dollars  have 
been  saved  to  the  Government  within  the  last  year. 
I submit  his  circular,  which  I ask  may  be  read,  and 
I regret  that  its  length  will  preclude  its  admission 
in  my  pr.nted  remarks.  The  plan  contained  in  this 
circular,  was  the  plan  ef  the  Executive  and  of  the 
War  Department,  but  he  was  the  active  agent  who 
produced  its  practical  results,  that  have  and  will 
save  to  the  Government  hundreds  of  thousanis  of 
dollars.  I hope  this  circular  may  find  i’s  way  in 
the  columns  of  every  honest  newspaper  in  the  coun- 
try. I think  it  would  have  the  effect  to  stop  the 
mouth  of  many  a barking  Whig  whiffet.  It  will 
be  seen  by  this  circular,  as  well  as  by  its  results, 
that  every  means  have  been  adopted  that  could  be 
adopted  without  impairing  the  efficiency  of  the  ser- 
vice, to  retrench  expenditures  and  secure  economy. 
Sir,  it  is  almost  incredible  to  those  unacquainted 
with  the  almost  entile  destitution  of  resources 
in  Florida,  the  expenses  that  lhe  Government 
has  had  to  incur  in  the  conduct  of  the  war. 
At  lhe  commencement  of  the  war,  and  for 
:ome  time  thereafter,  the  Government  was 
compelled  to  pay  for  the  hire  t>f  a steamboat,  per 
day,  from  three’to  four  hundred  dollars — and,  I be- 
lieve, in  many  instances,  defray  the  expanses  of  the 
boat — an  i,  1 ihink,  in  some  instances,  had  to  pay 
as  h:gh  as  forty-five  dofars  a cord  for  wood. 
Steamboats  were  not  used  for  any  other  purpose 
than  ihe  transportation  of  troops  and  munitions  of 
war,  and  never  for  that  purpose  when  it  could  be 
avoided;  still,  such  were  the  pressing  necessities  for 
a speedy  transportation  of  troops,  that  such  ex- 
penses had  to  be  incurred,  and  such  means  of  con- 
veyance adopted.  Provisions,  forage,  and  labor 
of  every  description,  bore  an  almost  corresponding 
price.  But  these,  sir,  are  only  some  of  the  diffi- 
culties and  embarrassments  with  which  the  Go- 
vernment have  had  to  contend.  I have  more  and 
greater  to  speak  of,  but  I must  first  respond  to 
some  of  ihe  more  special  charges  made  upon  the 
Administration,  both  in  this  and  the  other  branch 
of  this  Capitol.  Emphatic  complaints  are  made  of 
the  want  of  energy  in  the  War  Department  and  it 
is  now  urged  upon  Congress  to  adopt  some  deci- 
sive action  to  bring  this  war  to  a close,  and  that 
some  more  efficient  means  than  that  adopted 
by  the  Executive  should  have  been  adopted  by 
the  last  Congress.  Sir,  I will  agree  that  Con- 
gress, long  before  this,  should  have  adopted  “some 
more  efficient  means.”  Congress  should  have,  in 
compliance  with  the  recommendation  of  the  Piesi- 
dent  in  183G,  increased  the  number  of  the  regular 
army;  but  it  was  enough  that  it  was  a measure  of 
ihe  Administration  to  enlist  the  whole  Opposiiion 
against  il.  But,  sir,  Congress  did  do  something 
“ efficient and  so  efficient  as  lo  thwart  the  whole 
operations  of  ihe  War  Department;  for  it  is  well 
known  that  the  most  active  and  efficient  measures 
had  been  adopted  and  were  in  operation  by  the 
War  Depariment,  and  were  in  progress  of  execu- 
tion in  Florida  when  they  were  arrested  by  the  ac- 


ft.® 


tion  of  Congress  * If  Congress  had  not  interfered  and 
directed  that  renewed  efforts  to  pacify  that  country 
and  to  reconcile  the  Seminohs,  should  be  made  ffe 
military  operations  would  have  been  prosecuted 
with  vigor,  and  in  all  probability  the  murders  and 
depredations  which  were  the  fruits  of  that  injudi- 
cious a ten.pt  at  negotiation,  would  have  been 
avoided,  so  that  the  bloodshed  and  treachery  which 
is  so  often  charged  upon  th-  War  Department 
were  the  work,  not  of  that  Department,  bur  .he 
"Wonr  of  Congress,  or  were  occasioned  by  the  fact 
that  the  attention  of  those  who  make  these 
charges  were  unfortunately  “directed”  to  the  war 
in  Florida.  Sir,  to  the  constant  cry  of  the  Oppo  i ion 
mat  this  war  has  continued  so  long,  and  that  it  will 
still  continue  unless  Congress  give  it  their  atten- 
tion, I would  say  it  Will  sill  continue,  unless 
Congress  cea<e  to  glve  it  their  attention,  and  cease 
© interfere  with  the  military  operations  by  efforts 
o make  peace,  which  wi'lever  prove  abortive  A 
member  of  the  Senate  [Mr.  Preston]  says-  “It 
was  thought  that  the  few  straggling  warriors  would 
yieid  at  once  to  the  mere  demonstration  of  force 

Ih^t  !GA^eralGovemmenr*  Under  this  (tension 
a e Administration  termina'ed,  and  the  present 
Adm.mstr.tion  i„.->  That  was  not  so:  whm 
jj,®  If!  came  in,  the  commanding 

!d  ,h  w Td  “'e  Warl°  be  °'er-  a"d  so  inform 
ed  the  War  Department.  Thf  commanding  gene, 
ral  had  good  reason  to  believe  so,  and  was  iu-tifi. 
able  in  so  reporting,  as  ] wU,  show  before  Jj  anj 

done  But  he  was  s® m undec»i>ej  by  ose  of  ho.-e 

&&oVfhre,.Ch^y  Which  distinguished  the 
conduct  of  the  Indians  m pi0  ida  throughout  the 
whole  progress  of  this  war.  Upon  t e receipt  of  ihis 

■ , preparations  upon  an  extensive  scale  were  im- 
mediate, y made  to  renew  the  contest,  with  greater 
«eans  and  energy  than  had  been  before  adopted,  or 
-ver  exhibited  in  the  watfare  of  this  country.  In 
■^ort,  nothing  within  the  power  and  means  of  the 

1°r  lhe  p0Wer  of  the  War  Department, 
fas  left  undone.  And  it  is  said  « that  the  dilatory 

™ fl°f  ,h0  . war>  not  sa7  the  disgrace  of  if, 
f ,h  w 7 10  the  ,m potency  of  the  head 

6n!ar  Department  ” Sir,  such  a charge  can 
nty  proceed  from  a shameful  disregard  of  truth 
r an  unpardonable  ignorance  of  the  facts  and  his- 
ry  of  the  Florida  war  on  the  part  of  him  who 
lattes  it;  and  nothing  but  the  obligations  of  order 
nd  dec.irum  that  govern  the  conduct  of  one  branch 

Son  gm  atU[e  towards  lhe  “ther,  prevents  me 
®”a  a,hjdlug.  by  name,  to  the  individual  who 

Now  Sir,  what  are  the  facts?  The  officers  who 
inducted  the  operations  in  Florida  during  the 
r»t  and  second  campaigns,  called,  some  for  fif- 
cn  hundred,  others  for  three  thousand,  men 
a force  that  would  be  required  to  finish  the 


When  General  Taylor  was  actively  and  successfullv  on 
ged  in  scouring  the  country,  and  .liivi,,^  ihe  Indians  frnl 
J swamps  and  hammocks  where  thev  had  concealed  fhr-m 

d!e,SePnrarrnedMr-DuNCAN  here  alludes  “> Mr.  Preston, 


war;  and  General  Scott  thought  it  would  require 
five  thousand  m-n,  and  he  made  hs  h or t cam- 
paign with  that  number;  but  when  the  War 
Department  became  aware  that  hostilities  were  to 
56  \ern™We<L'  ,he  UimVotenr  head  of  that  Depart- 
ment [Mr.  Poinsett]  thought  it  advisable  to  augment 
that  force  to  ten  thousand  men.  He  never  labored 
under  the  delusion  “that  the  straggling  warriors  of 
t londa  were  to  be  subdued  by  a mere  demonstra- 
t.on  ot  force.  He  knew  their  strength,  and  was 
aware  of  the  difficulties  presented  by  the  peculiar 
nature  of  the  country,  and  of  the  climate.  He  at 
once  determined  to  increase  the  forces  to  be  em- 
ployed in  Florida  above  all  former  estimates  Ten 
thousand  men  were  sent  into  Florida  and  after- 
watGs  distributed  by  placing  two  thousand  in  posts, 
and  eight  thousand  were  employed  in  scouring  the 
country;  and  no  army  in  the  world  was  ever  better 
supplied  and  subsisted. 

These  were  the  the  peculiar  duties  of  “the  head 
ol  the  War  Department,”  and  they  were  most  ef- 
fectually performed  on  his  part.  It  is  said  that  the 
late  President  [General  Jackson]  would  have 

i PS  Vth  a net:  the‘  Terr'tory  of  Florida,  if 

be  had  been  been  aware  of  the  real  state  of  affairs. 

ensral  Jackson  and  ail  his  measures,  while  he 
was  in  office  were  as  bitterly  and  as  recklessly 
ns  ailed,  by  the  present  Opposition,  as  Mr.  Van 
tfuren  and  h s measures  now  are;  and  the  compli- 
ment is  only  bestowed  upon  General  Jackson  for 
uase  and  selfish  party  purposes,  that  Mr  Van 
Buren  may  be  disgraced.  The  force  wh  ch  Mr. 
Poinsett  put  in> o Plor-da  was  not  sufficient  to  drag 
a terntory  of  more  than  forty-five  thousand  square 
mt  es,  “as  with  a net;”  but  it  proved  sufficient  to 
t , capture,  and  send  out  of  the  country,  more  - 
han  three  thousand  of  the  enemy,  and  nearly  all 
ne  negroes,  who  were  the  most  active  and  formi- 
dable of  their  warriors. 

The  force  sent  to  Florida  that  year  by  the  Se- 
c-etary  of  War,  consisted  of  regulars,  Indian  war- 
riors from  the  Northwest,  hunters  and  guides,  and 
ffie  bravest  of  the  brave  from  Missouri,"  Alabama, 
Georgia, and  Tennessee,  mounted  men,  the  courage 
activity,  and  chivalry  of  the  country.  They  did 
their  duty,  and  beat  the  enemy  whenever  they  met 
iem;and  by  the  bat  ieof  Okuchnbee,  totally  changed 
he  character  of  the  contest.  Since  that  action, the 
Indians  have  never  made  fight  in  masses.  They 
were  beaten  and  dispersed,  and  never  again  assem- 
ble I m sufficient  numbers  to  attack  our  troops, 
ihey  continued,  however,  their  murderous  assaults 
upon  our  defenceless  settlements;  and,  broken  up 
in  o small  par  ies,  prowled  over  the  country  like 
beasts  of  prey,  killing  women  and  children,  and  de- 
stroying, by  fire,  houses  and  barns— marking  their 
progress  with  devastation  and  desolation.  In  this 
stage  of  the  contest,  and  in  this  state  of  the.oppos- 
in?  forces-,  it  is  demanded  by  gentlemen  here,  in 
powdered  wigs,”  perfumed  cologne,  and  white 
gloves,  in  the  warm  and  secure  halls  of  this  Capi- 
ol,  with  the  comfortable  per  diem  of  eight  dollars, 
that  the  war  should  be  prosecuted  effectually,  and 
prosecuted  at  once;”  and  gentlemen  here,  who 
would,  like  Cleon,  flee  at  the  approach  of  the  toma- 
hawk, promise  plans  by  which  the  Florida  war 
may  at  ‘once  be  terminated.”  Well,  sir,  while 
gentlemen  who  are  better  qualified  to  stand  by  the 


io_V  * 


toilet,  or  whirl  the  belle  in  the  giddy  waltz  than  to 
stand  by  their  country  in  danger,  or  perform  the 
duties  of  a soldier  in  the  swamps  and  hammocks  ot 
Florida,  are  preparing  their  plan,  by  which  an 
end  may  at  once  be  put  to  the  war  ” We  will  ex- 
amine what  has  been  done,  and  the  probable  rea- 
sons which  induced  the  Secretary  of  War  to  change 
the  manner  of  conducting  the  war,  if  war  it  can 

now  be  cal  ed.  _ t e 

From  the  opinion  I entertain  of  the  Secre  ary  of 
War,  and,  I presume,  the  opinion  generally  enter- 
tained of  him,  from  the  distinguished  manner  in 
wh  ch  he  has  discharged  every  official  outy  im- 
posed  upon  him,  if  he  supposed  the  war  could  be 
speedily  terminated  by  bringing  the  whole  force  of 
the  Un  ted  States,  he  would  have  adopted  that 
course,  (did  he  control  the  means.)  But  he  ap- 
pears, on  the  contrary,  to  be  convinced  that  to  mu  - 
tiplv  the  militia  forces  in  that  country,  and  to  at- 
tempt to  “ drag  it  as  with  a net,”  would  only  result 
in  exhausting  the  Treasury,  (a  much  wished  for 
event  by  some  gentlemen  here,)  and  entailing  upon 
the  Government  interminable  claims  for  losses  and 
pensions.  But  it  is  said,  “we  owe  it  to  humanity 
and  civilization  to  close  this  war  at  once.  None 
are  more  sensible  of  that  than  are  the  Executive 
and  the  head  of  the  War  Department;  hut  they 
do  not  believe  it  is  to  be  accomplished  by  covering 
the  country  with  troops,  unless  every  square  mile 
were  occupied,  which  would  require  over  forty-five 
thousand  troops.  The  Secretary  of  War  believes 
it  to  be  a work  of  time,  and  that  it  is  to  be  wrought 
out  by  regulars,  aided  by  a small  militia  force,  and 
by  a body  of  men  trained  as  regulars  and  hunters. 
Every  effort  of  the  Executive  and  the  head  oi  the 
"War  Department  has  been  marked  with  well  di- 
rected judgment;  and  all  the  success  that  could  be 
expected  has  been  accomplished,  from  the  means 
with  wh  ch  they  had  to  act,  the  character  of  the 
enemy  wi  h which  they  have  had  to  contend,  and 
the  face  of  the  country  which  is  the  theatre  of 
war.  The  Secretary  of  War,  it  will  be  seen,  or- 
dered General  Taylor  to  direct  all  his  efforts  to  pro- 
tect the  settlements  in  Mddle  Florida,  and  effec- 
tually clear  the  Indians  out  of  that  portion  of  the 
Territory  before  he  proceeded  ta  scaur  the  country 
south.  General  Taylor  performed  that  duty;  but 
it  is  thought  he  proceeded  south  too  soon, 
and,  on  his  march  south,  the  Indians  rose 
up  or  passed  into  his  rear,  and  co  emitted 
murders  and  depredations  there.  He  then  re- 
turned, distiicted  the  country,  and  planted  p ns’s  in 
each  district,  and  was  successfully  prosecuting  his 
operations,  when  Congress  arrested  them,  as  I have 
before  described.  The  interference  of  Congress 

produced  treachery  and  bloodshed,  and  paralyzed 

the  movements  of  the  army.  After  the  interfe- 
rence of  Congress  proved  abortive,  that  gallant 
army  resumed,  and  is  now  engaged  in  hunting  up 
the  murderers,  and  driving  them  across  the  Suwa- 
uee  that  the  inhabitants  of  Middle  Florila  may 
cultivate  their  fields  in  peace.  The  country  w, 11 
ihen  again  be  districted,  posts  agaii  be  established, 
and  if  the  plan  of  the  Secretary  of  War  be  adopted 
by  Congress,  one  thousand  men,  armed,  equipped, 
and  drilled,  for  the  express  service,  will  be  em- 
ployed in  scouring  the  swamps  between  the  posts, 
and  securing  the  settlers  from  invasion.  In  this 


manner,  it  is  believed,  the  contest  with  these 
savages  may  be  brought  to  a close.  If  unneces- 
sary millions  have  benn  spent  in  this  war,  u has 
been  done  by  attempting  to  carry  out  P'an*  ot 
Congress,  both  by  its  interference  with  the  War 
Department,  and  by  its  failure  to  augment  the 
regular  army  on  ihe  recommendation  ot  the  Execu- 
tive, at  a time  when  the  Indians  were  strong  in 
their  own  belief,  when  they  were  concen- 
trated in  large  bodies,  and  when  one  or  two 
battles,  with  an  efficient  force,  would  have 
decided  the  contest.  But  the  policy  of  Con- 
gress has  been  otherwise,  and  the  result  as  the  Ex- 
ecutive and  the  head  of  the  War  Department  anti- 
cipated.  There  is  no  good  reason  why  vast  and 
expensive  armies,  to  subdue  what  can  now  only 

be  called  an  insurrection,  should  be  raised,  to  sub- 
due and  conquer  a few  wild  wandering  savages, 
whom  a single  regiment  could  cut  entirely  on,  m 
an  open  field  fight,  but  whom  to  destroy  at  once, 
wiih  their  advantages  of  swamps,  hamocks,  ever- 
glades, and  secret  passes,  in  which  they  conceal 
themselves  by  day,  but  are  almost  inaccessible 
and  impenetrable  to  civilized  man,  would  requ  re 
a force  equal  in  number  to  every  square  mile  ot 
territory.  The  Secretary  of  War  has  discovered 
the  errors  in  the  plans  suggested  oi  bringing  this 
contest  to  a close,  and  has  wisely  concluded  that  it 
can  be  better  and  more  securely  effected  by  the 
means  he  is  now  employing  than  by  any  other. 

Mr.  Chairman,  I am  aware  in  the  coming  pobti- 
cal  campaign,  that  every  means  will  be  used  by 
the  Opposition  to  turn  what  they  please  to  cal.  the 
failure  of  the  Administration  to  terminate  the 
Florida  war,  to  overthrow  the  powers  that  be;  mis- 
representation and  falsehood  will  be  bandied  by  j 
every  Federal  Whig,  tapeseller,  coxcomb, and  p tn- 
fogger  in  ffie  land;  and  every  Bank  pensioned  sheet 
will  teem  wiih  slander  and  abuse  about  the  failure 
to  put  down  the  Indians  in  Florida.  This  must  be- 
expected.  It  is  perfectly  in  charac  er  with  the  fe- 
deral party.  It  is  the  kind  of  game  they  have, 
been  playing  ever  since  ihe  commencement  of  iru 
Government,  to  the  end  that  Democracy  may  be 
prostrated,  and  its  supporters  put  down,  and  fede- 
ralism established,  and  its  advocates  and  support- 
ers put  into  office.  In  this  the  Federalists  of  this 
country  are  not  -singular.  It  is  the  way  « llh 
faction  in  every  country  which  has  a Republican 
Government.  Nor  d -es  the  object  of  the  Federal 
party  here,  differ  from  the  enemies  of  human  liber- 
ty ffs  where;  the  same  motives  govern  them  al 
over  <he  world,  and  at  all  limes.  There  is  na 
course  that  the  Administration  could  have  taken 
that  would  have  saved  it  from  the  censure  o.  afac 
non  determined  to  b;  satisfied  with  no  hing  shor 
of  the  downfall  of  the  Democratic  party,  and  tin 
prostration  of  the  Democratic  institutions  of  ou 
country.  If  the  Administration  had  been  succe-s 
ful  in  cutting  off  every  Seminole  murderer  in  file 
rida,  and  exterminating  that  barbarous  race,  whos 
whole  course  and  conduct  in  this  conflict  have  bee 
marked  in  blood  and  indiscriminate  slaughte1 
why,  the  Federal  party  would  have  instantl 
turned  into  a humane  and  ‘‘peace”  party,  £ 
was  the  case  in  the  last  war  with  Great  Britan 
and  the  vengeance  of  God  would  have  been  n 
voked  to  avenge  the  blood  that  this  Administrate 


<1  *&/ 

11 


had  brought  upon  this  nation.  If  the  Administra- 
to’i  Ind  been  so  successful  as  to  have  taken  every 
Seminole  Indian  by  capture,  without  shedding  the 
blood  of  one,  and  transplanting  them  in  the  far 
West,  why,  sir,  this  land  would  now  be  billed  wi  h 
Federal  tears  and  Federal  mourning,  at  the  sacri- 
legious crime  of  tearing  the  poor  Indians  from  their 
native  homes  and  their  father’s  graves,  as  was  the 
case  when  the  Georg'a  Indians  were  moved  west 
of  the  Mississippi,  and  many  a fervent  prayer 
would  have  ascended  from  the  sacred  altar  to  re- 
venge the  injuries  and  vio!ence  done  the  poor  Se- 
xninoles.  But  as  it  is,  there  will  not  be  a Federal 
parrot  but  will  take  its  cue  from  the  party  orators 
here,  and  will  be  heard  to  prattle,  ‘ the  Florida  War 
was  begun  in  extravagance,  conducted  in  weakness,  and 
must  end  in  disgrace .”  But,  sir,  the  Executive  and 
the  head  of  the  War  Department  are  not  the  only 
officers  whose  reputations  are  to  be  blighted  by  the 
sirorco  breath  of  foul  faction  and  polluted  Fe- 
deralism. The  distinguished  and  gallant  Je- 
sup  must  be  its  vicim  also.  Sir,  if  we 
could  see  some  of  the  popinjay  Federal 
dandies,  who  undertake  to  prescribe  the  “ plans ” 
by  which  the  Florida  war  is  to  be  terminated, 
en'er  the  swamps  of  Florida,  and  face  a group 
of  Seminoles,  I think  it  would  be  a Cleon  affur. 
At  a time  when  the  Athenians  were  hard  pressed 
by  the  enemy  at  home,  with  whom  they  were 
then  engaged,  in  addition  to  difficulties  from 
abroad,  the  domestic  tranquillity  of  Greece  was 
disturbed  by  the  ambition  of  Cleon  and  Bracedes, 
who  were  both  advocates  of  war,  and  the  former 
never  failed  to  do  whatever  could  be  don-  to  fo- 
ment it.  Cleon  was  desirous  of  war,  because  it 
served  to  screen  his  base  immoralities  and  corrupt 
vices;  Bracides,  because  it  added  new  lustre  to 
bis  reputation,  as  no  general  was  more  successful 
than  he. 

Cleon,  like  some  of  the  demagogues  of  our  day, 
was  constantly  in  the  habit  of  denouncing  the 
officers  of  state  and  of  the  army  as  impotent  and 
unfit  fur  the  duties  of  the  stations  they  held.  All 
the  failures  in  battle  were  attributed  by  h:m  to  im- 
b'cdity  and  mismanagement  charges  thus  made 
against  the  commanding  officers,  brought  upon 
him  the  indignation  and  contempt  of  many  reflect- 
ing and  valuable  citizens,  while  it  raised  him  in 
the  estimation  of  others  less  reflecting.  This  dif 
icrence  o t opinion  of  the  char  cter  and 
conduct  of  Cleun,  produced  two  parties.  The 
friends  of  Cleon  presented  him  as  a candi- 
date lor  General,  to  take  charge  of  the  troops. 
His  party  proved  ihe  strongest,  and  he  was  elected. 
He  gained  some  credit  soon  after  by  takm°- 
Sphaciceria,  mor*  by  accident  than  either  conduct 
or  courage,  which  raised  him  prodigiously  in  his 
own  estimation,  and  made  him  insnpportably 
hauvhfy.  He  was  now  to  command  the  troops 
which  were  to  oppos*  Brasida*,  the  Lacedemonian 
General,  who  commanded  the  city  of  Amphipolis. 
The  time  came  when  the  city  was  to  be  attacked, 
and  now  the  man  was  to  be  tried  who  nad  found 
the  failure  of  every  battle  that  the  Atheneans  had 
lost,  in  the  weakness  or  cowardice  of  her  generals. 
Cleon  marched  his  troops  near  the  city  wall.  Bra- 
sides  neiiher  showed  himself  nor  did  he  even  per- 
mit one  of  bis  sentinels  to  be  seen.  Cleon  retired, 


exulting  that  Bracides  was  afraid  to  give  him  bat- 
tle. The  next  day  he  marched  his  troops  to  the 
very  gates  of  Amphipoii*,  when  suddenly  Bracides, 
wi'h  his  troops,  rushed  upon  the  Athenean  troops. 
Cleon  took  fl  ght  at  the  firit  approach  of  ihe  enemy, 
and  in  his  flight  a soldier  shot  a dart  into  hi#  back. 
He  soon  sunk  an  1 expired.  Sir,  I think  if  some  of 
our  modern  Whig  generals  in  buckram,  were  to  go 
t * Florida,  we  would  hear  of  Cleons  wound’d  in  the 
back,  if  they  should  fail  to  have  the  heels  of  the  Semi- 
noles.  But,  sir,  I will  not  a<k  my  readers  to  take  my 
word  for  the  merits  due  to  Gen.  Jesup  and  others  that 
I might  name, for  servis°sin  the  Florida  war.  I have 
too  much  confidence  in  the  intelligence  and  re- 
search of  the  American  people  to  attempt  naked 
assertions  upon  their  credulity,  without  either  rea- 
son, history,  or  facts.  T know,  sir,  whole  speeches 
are  made  up  here  of  naked  assertions  and  shameless- 
exaggeration,  and  spread  far  and  wide  for  political 
deception.  Such  a course  may  suit  that  class  of 
politicians,  one  of  whose  fundamental  principles  is 
a denial  ol  intelligence,  stability,  and  virtue,  to  the 
m.iss  of  the  people.  Such  efforts  generally  find, 
their  reward  in  the  contempt  of  the  public,  whom 
it  is  intended  to  deceive. 

I will,  therefore,  ask  your  attention  while  I spe- 
cify some  of  tha  duties  performed  by  some  of  the 
commanding  offi  ers  w« o have  had  charge,  from 
t me  to  time,  of  the  Florida  war.  This,  I ana 
aware,  I shall  do  very  imperfectly,  for  I am  with- 
out the  proper  light  upon  the  subject,  there  being 
no  regular  history  of  the  Florida  war.  But  while 
I know  I shall  fail  to  do  justice  to  all,  I w 11  try  to 
do  injustice  to  none. 

I have  hinted  at  the  cause  of  the  Florida  w?r.  I 
have  stated  that  it  broke  out  some  time  at  the  close 
of  1835;  or,  this  was  about  the  time  hostilities  com- 
menced. 

General  Clinch  was  ordered  into  service  with  a 
small  force  of  two  or  three  hundred  regular  troops, 
and  four  or  five  hundred  volunteers.  Major  Dade 
marched  from  Tampa  Bay  to  join  General  Clinch 
at  Fort  King  with  a small  forct?,  (something  over 
one  hundred  and  twenty  men,)  and  was  attacked 
by  the  Indians  near  the  Wahoo  swamp,  defeated, 
and  he  and  his  men  massacred  near  where  there  is 
now  a fort  called  after  that  officer.  In  December, 
1836,  General  Clinch  marched  from  Fort  Drane  to 
attack  the  Indians  with  his  regular  forces  and  vo- 
lunteers on  the  Withlacoochee  river.  At  about  thir- 
ty-five miles  from  his  post,  he  met  the  Indians 
on  crossing  the  river.  The  regular  troops,  and  but 
27  or  28  volunteers,  had  crossed  the  river  with 
him.  The  time  for  which  the  volunteers  had  enlisted 
to  serve  had  expired,  and  they  refused,  except  the 
number  I have  stated.  With  this  force  he  fought 
the  Indian.;  and  drove  them;  but,  not  being  sus- 
tained by  the  volunteers,  he  was  forced  to  give 
back  and  recross  the  river,  and  he  returned  to  Fort 
Drane. 

At  the  time  the  news  of  Major  Dado’s  massacre 
reached  Mobile,  where  Major  General  Gaines  then 
was,  he  with  promptness  repaired  to  New  Orleans, 
where  he,  with  creditable  zeal,  organize  ! a force  of 
regular  and  volunteer  troops,  amounting  to  about 
eleven  hundred  men,  and  proceeded,  without  de- 
lay, to  Tampa  Bay,  where  he  arrived  about  the 
10th  of  February,  and,  after  making  preparations 


v'V'  A 


12 


for  the  field,  marched  on  the  Fort  King  road  to 
Dade’s  battle  ground,  where  he  buried  the  merito- 
rious dead  wi  h the  honors  of  war,  from  which  he 
marched  to  Fort  King.  He  drew  a small  supply 
of  subsistence  from  Fort  Drane;  he  also  received  a 
small  supply  of  ammunition,  and  immediately 
inarched  to  the  Withlacoochee  river,  where  he  ar- 
rived on  the  27ih,  and  encountered,  the  same  day, 
ihe  enemy  across  the  river  in  a conflict  of  half  an 
hour,  when  the  troops  withdrew  for  the  night,  after 
a loss  of  one  killed  and  six  or  seven  wounded. 
The  next  morning  the  troops  marched  down  the 
river  two  or  three  miles,  where  it  was  supposed  it 
could  be  crossed.  There  the  advance  of  the  army 
was  fired  upon;  an  action  ensued,  which  lasted  un- 
til the  middle  of  the  day,  in  which  Lieut.  Izard  was 
mortally  wounded.  The  troops  kept  their  ground, 
encamped  that  n'ght,  and  threw  UP  ^ 
breastwork,  and  an  express  was  despatched 
to  General  Clinch,  or  the  officer  commanding  at 
Fort  Drane.  The  next  morning  the  enemy,  in 
number  between  ten  and  fifteen  hundred  men,  ap- 
peared and  made  an  attack  on  three  sides  of  the 
camp,  which  was  Kept  up  for  more  than  two  hours, 
when  he  withdrew,  leaving  one  of  his  number  dead 
on  the  field.  Another  despatch  was  sent  to  Fort 
Drane.  From  this  time  until  the  5th  of  March,  the 
enemy  made  several  spirited  attacks  upon  the 
camp,  in  which  several  conflicts  the  less  on  the 
part  of  General  Gaines’s  troops  were,  six  or  seven 
killed,  and  thirty-five  or  foity  wounded. 

On  the  night  of  the  5th  March  a proposition  was 
heard  from  the  woods  by  the  enemy,  and  the  next 
morning  several  Indians  appeared  at  a disiance 
with  a white  flag.  Adjutant  Barrow  of  the  vo- 
lunteers was  sent  to  confer  with  them.  They  in 
formed  him  that  they  did  not  wish  to  fight  any 
more,  but  they  wanted  General  Gaines  to  go  away; 
upon  which  information  General  Gaines  sent  out 
Captain  Hitchcock,  with  two  or  three  other  officers, 
to  confer  further  with  them.  The  Indians  repeated 
to  him  their  desire  for  peace,  and  stated  that  a great 
many  of  their  men  had  been  killed.  While  this 
conference  was  going  on,  the  advance  of  General 
Clinch’s  troops  fired  on  the  Indians  who  were  in 
the  rear,  when  they,  and  the  chiefs  who  were  in 
council,  fled  and  concealed  themselves  in  the  ham- 
mocks, and  were  no  more  seen  until  near  the  mid- 
dle of  March.  The  command  of  General  Gaines’s 
troops  was  turned  over  by  him  to  General  Clinch, 
who  fell  back  upon  Fort  Drane,  as  I have  before 
stated.  This  is  a brief  sketch  of  the  part  which 
General  Gaines  took  in  this  war,  in  all  of  whicn  he 
and  his  troops  sustained  themselves  in  a manner  cre- 
ditable to  the  American  arms;  I mean  so  far  as  their 
time  and  means  would  permit. 

In  January,  1836,  General  Scott  was  ordered  to 
Florida  to  take  charge  of  the  war.  He  was  un- 
limited as  to  means. — [See  Senate  doe.  224,  pages 
91  and  199.]  He  arrived  in  Florida  soon  after  his 
order.  He  organized  his  force,  and  we  find  h m 
at  Fort  Drane  about  the  14  h of  March,  1836. 
General  Scott  ordered  one  division  of  his  army, 
(his  left  wing,)  by  the  way  of  the  St.  Johns,  to 
meet  him  on  the  Withlacoochee  river,  while  he 
moved  fiom  Fort  Drane,  on  the  26th  of  March, 
with  a force  of  1,968  men,  regulars  and  volunteers, 
with  eighteen  days’  provisions,  as  appears  in  Senate 


doc.  page  97,  and  by  his  own  s'atement.  He  ar- 
rived on  the  Withlacoochee  on  the  morning  ot  the 
28th,  and  of  course  with  subsisience  for  sixteen 
days,  having  been  on  the  march  but  t<vo  days.  He 
found  the  Indians  embodied  on  the  Withlacoochee; 
he  attacked  them  and  drove  them  into  the  swamp, 
but  did  not  follow  them  more  than  four  or  five 
miles.  It  is  believed  no  Indians  were  killed,  nor 
were  any  prisoners  taken.  He  then  took  up  the 
line  of  march  for  Tampa  Bay,  where  he  arrived 
in  eleven  days  from  Fort  Drane,  and  of  cour  e 
with  seven  days’  subsistence.  Tiie  left  wing  of  his 
army,  which  had  been  sent  to  Volusia,  on  the  St. 
Johns,  moved  from  thence  to  Palaklekaha,  where, 
according  to  General  Scott’s  report,  they  found 
ponies  and  cattle  in  abundance,  but  were  obliged  to 
march  to  Tampa  Bay  for  want  of  provisions. 
Where  were  the  cattle  which  were  in  abundance'? 
They  arrived  at  Tampa  Bay  about  the  same  time 
that  General  Scott,  wish  his  troops,  arrived. 

I wish  it  jemembered  that  Gen.  Scott  was  on  the 
Withlacoochee,  with  sixteen  days’  provisions, 
where  ihe  enemy  was  embodied,  with  his  right 
wing,  consisting  of  nineteen  hundred  and  sixty- 
eiaht  troops,  about  the  same  time  that  the  left  wing 
of  his  army  was  at  Palaklekaha,  a distance  ot  not 
more  than  thirty-five  or  forty  miles  from  where 
Gen.  Scott  was  on  the  Withlacoochee,  and  where 
the  enemy  was  embodied.  I wish  it  remembered, 
also,  that  there  were  abundance  of  cattle  at  Palak-  | 
lekaha.  Two  days  were  sufficient  to  bring  the  j 
whole  ferce  of  the  two  wings  of  Gen.  Scott’s  army, 
which  would  have  amounted  to  near  four  thousand 
regulars  and  volunteers,  to  the  spot  where  the  al-  , 
most  entire  Indians  were  embodied,  and  with  sub- 
sistence (cattle)  in  abundance.  These  are  facts  j 
which  I wish  remembered,  as  I will  have  to  refer 
to  them  again.  But,  sir,  we  now  find  both  wings 
of  Gen.  Scott’s  army  at  Tampa  Bay,  and  with 
seven  days’  provisions,  and  not  one  Indian  killed 
or  taken  prisoner,  on  the  march  that  took  them 

there.  Gen  Scott  sent  a detachment  from  Tampa 

Bay,  under  Gen.  Smith,  to  Charlotte  Harbor,  south 
of  Tampa  Bay;  but  he  found  no  Indians  there. 
From  this,  Gen.  Smith  returned  with  his  troops  to 
New  Orleans,  at  the  expiration  of  their  terms. 
Gen.  Scott  returned  to  St.  Augustine,  with  his  left 
division,  by  the  way  of  Volusia.  His  right  divi- 
sion re'urned  to  Fort  Drane  on  nearly  the  same 
route  by  which  it  marched  ou*;  where,  and  when, 
the  volunteers  were  discharged,  and  sent  home,  as 
also  were  the  volunteer*  of  the  left  wing  at  St.  Au- 
gustine. Soon  after  Gen.  Scott  arrived  at  St.  Au- 
gustine, he  had  leave  to  qnir  Florida,  or  remain,  as 
he  chose.  He  was  directed,  in  cave  he  shoud 
leave  Florida,  to  proceed  to  the  Cr-ek  country,  to 
take  charge  of  that  war.  He  left  Florida  in  May, 

1836.  . . 

Thus  ended  General  Scott’s  campaign  in  t lo- 
rida,  without  killing  half  a dozen  of  Indians,  and 
without  taking  a single  prisoner,  and  le‘t  the  In- 
dians scattered  over  the  country  as  hostile  and  un- 
tamed as  when  he  found  them,  and  with  more  con- 
fidence in  their  own  strength,  although  his  army 
was  strong,  his  troops  of  the  bravest  character,  and 
he  unlimited  by  the  War  Department  in  his  acqui- 
sition in  means,  with  the  Treasury  open  to  his 
service. 


2.^ 

13 


I hare  collected  most  of  the  facts  I hare  here 
stated,  from  Senate  document  No.  224,  which  is  the 
journai  and  the  report  of  the  court  of  inquiry  held 

? ? °f-  Fredencki  ln  Maryland — a court 
established  to  inquire  m:o  the  causes  of  the  signal 

!olin  6 °ft  GCf ' n Su°lt  10  bring  ,he  F^rida  war 
an  end,  and  all  the  evidence  furnishing  ihe«e 

r^SJSielparteuln  ilf,  character,  and  furnished  by 
General  Scott  himself.  At  the  proper  time  1 shall 
take  some  further  notice  of  this  gentleman  and  his 
conduct  in  the  Cieek  war.  At  present  I will  leave 

?en<Vral  Sc°ft  left  Florida>  Governor 
Call  had  orders  from  the  War  Department  to  take 
charge  ol  the  Florida  War.  He  took  charge  of 
ihe  war.  His  forces  at  that  time  consisted  of  "some 
regular  troops  and  some  volunteers;  but  what 
number  ot  each,  or  what  was  the  whole,  lam 
unaWe  to  say;  but  I thmk  not  a very  strong 

ug  *°  ,he  Sick,iness  of  the^seasom 
General  Call  spent  the  principal  part  of  the  sickly 

season  in  the  defence  of  the  frontiers.  He  killed 

some  of  the  enemy,  and  took  some  prisoners.  In 

ovember,  1836,  it  was  understood  that  a part  of 

lfrL!7e  embodied  in  the  Wahoo  swamp, 

Draoeh  m'thaf  aC0°Chee’  He  marched  from  Fort 
Draoe  to  that  point,  and  arrived  with  five  days’ 

provisions.  He  attacked  the  enemy,  had  three  suc- 

•essive  battles,  and  defeated  them  ,n  each-kiBed 

-Tisnmber  °f  lKhem’  and  dlsPersed  remainder. 

I^nS.being  exhausted,  and  ihe  enemy  be- 
nto  dispersed,  he  marched  to  Volusia,  where  he 
urned  over  the  command  to  General  Jesup.  who 
ras  ordered  to  receive  it.  V' 

11  i?„ehc'f  G^ar’ Alabama>  and0"  the  W%St- 

, leave'pS  ,hat,Gcneral  Scott  had  permission 
iar«  ofF  h.dr  an,d  ,epa,r  10  AIabai»a,  and  lake 
id  adv  ce  of  f re  War-  The  War  Apartment 
as  1li  mr  lTl  ‘!10"  10  teave  Florida,  but 
as  al.o  informed  that  his  health  was  bad;  and  ap- 

,eh*ns,ve  that  he  might  not  be  able  to  proceed  Fo 

sup ^fthn  t0  take,char^e  war,  ordered  Gem 

sup  (who  was  then  in  Washington  citv^  tn 

rrCeshouldAGebamV^d  tal?  char?e  of  the  Creek 
f o h l Tal  Sc0t  s hea,th  n°t  Permit  him; 
th  this  ordire  r°  a 1 ,U?der  hirn*  ,n  compliance 
1 and  ’ eneral  desuP  Proceeded  to  Alaba- 
i,  and  on  his  way  met  General  Scott  at  Augusta 

»?  nmf.,a’a°Vhe  3/!’h  °f  Ma?>  1836>  from  which 
:fed  fVn^i  ColurDbus-  General  Sco  t di- 
£d  General  Jesup  to  the  western  side  of  the 
eek  coun-ry,  m A'abama,  or  to  the  head  quar- 
* of  Govern°r  Clay,  to  take  charge  ol  the  war  in 
r,qZ  :fVIilhink  the  A,ahama  troops  we  e 
^ 1 , d TuSkf^e-  General  Jesup’s  first  exer- 

I nlt  m’S  a^mblin? ‘he  Indians  who 
not  yet  engaged  with  the  hostile  party,  but 

afT°  ,he  Side  the^  should  join.  In 
Who  (f"neuraI  Je"uP  was  successful.  He  gain- 

Creek^Vo  P’“fipal  and  most  able  chi  f of 
Creek  nation,  and  secured  other  chiefs  and 

ut  sixteen  or  seventeen  hundred  warriors’  He 
i gave  notice  of  his  intention  to  move  into  the 

-Cfrr-he  12  h J^e,  and  on  the  ev/. 

5 before,  which  was  on  the  11th,  the  principal 


hnndroah  f*  ?efcwMC<*  “me  in  with  about  four 
hundred  warriors,  and  surrendered.  A part 

of  General  Scott’s  order  io  General  jZ 
"up  was,  after  joining  Governor  Clay’s  head 
quarters,  to  move  to  Erwinton,  south  of  tde  Creek 
country  From  Tuskegee  to  Erwinton  there  were 
two  roads;  one  that  passed  along  the  frontier  of  the 
hite  settlements,  the  other  passed  near  the  hostile 

(Teneral  JesuP  touk  {he  latter,  and  arrived 
near  the  hostile  camp  on  the  night  of  .he  17th 
having  on  his  way  captured  the  chief  who  com- 
manded it.  The  same  night  all  the  warrior- 
Opotheolo  joined  h m.  The  next  day  he  moved 
forward  to  the  hostile  camp  with  the  volunteers 
having  previously  sent  the  Indian  warr  ors  by  a 
circuitous  route  on  the  other  side  of  ihe  camp  so 
as  to  prevent  the  flight  or  escape  of  the  Indfant 
He  then  went  forward,  and  entered  the  camp  but 
found  it  deserted;  the  Indians  having  fled  a^hort 
distance  at  his  approach.  The  Indian  warriors 
made  ^some  prisoners,  and  prevented  a general  dis- 

At  this  moment  General  Jesup  received  order* 
from  General  Scott  to  cease  all  hostile  operations 
and  to  march  his  troops,  and  encamp  near  For J 
Mitchell,  a distance  of  twenty-two  or  ihree  miles.  * 
General  Jesup,  unwillmgto  promptly  disobey  the 
ordeis  of  his  superior  officer,  and  more  unwid  ™ 
to  perm,  the  enemy  to  disperse,  which  he  cin? 
sidered  almost  in  his  grasp,  surrendered  for  the 
time  his  command  to  General  Patterson  Jh! 
commanded  ,he  divl!ion  of  Alabama  troluitem 
*lth  orders  to  encamp  the  troops,  and  keen  "fr 
strong  detachments  to  prevent  the  enemy  from 
escaping,  and  mounted  his  horse  and  repaired  whh 
possible  speed,  to  Fort  Mitchell,  to  repon  to 
General  Scott  the  actual  condition  of  the  enemv 
and  to  obtain  his  permission  to  go  on  and 
the  war,  or  to  advise  him  (Scott)  to  take  ih*  to 

Stoi  at  Fort  Miichell,  he  returned  io  thecamn 
termined  to  end  ,he  war.  On  his  return ££ 
army,  he  sent  out  some  cf  the  hostile  chiefs  whom 
he  had  captured,  to  summon  the  hostiles  to  surre^ 
der.  They  did  surrender;  and,  in  place  of 
to  General  Scott  a notice  of  his  compliance  with  hit 
order  to  cease  all  hostile  operations,  <fcc.  General 
Jesup  sent  him  the  followins  common, cation: 

. Sir:  I have  the  honor  to  endtee  copta 3 ■»* 
JorGfnera|  Patterson  and  Captain  pirrot  bv  J, i “u from  Ma" 
observe  that  tittle  remains  to  be  done  Jim  fil  h you  wil* 
with  about  one  hundred  and  fifty  warriors-  hm  mlW1'11  out 
ri»rs,  who  have  halted  and  await  my ^ orders^ at  War" 

say  they  can  take  him.  I have  just  received  inform?/5  Sp,nn^ 
Seminole  chief,  with  a number  of  his  wIrr!d.  F a-10n  that  a 

the  information  ■comes  from  a negro  taken  lasf  aK1*' Henry» 

I have  the  honor  to  be,  General,  ° 

Vour  obedient  servant, 

. THOS.  S.  JESUP  I 

Major  General  Scott,  J°r  e"€ral  Com*nanding. 

^rSeSe^rme-nfZ.0"^  ‘S*  • 0i  fc 

Congress  page  474,  for  this  comm^ nTc^0n  lid 

others,  showing  the  conclusion  of  the  war  hv 
renders  of  the  balance  of  the  hostiles  * U> 

etS  rat f W ?n4 

° lhe  orders  of  General  Scott.  IfT  i r 
General  Scott  had  not  been  opposed  bv  Gener°f 
Jesup,  and  at  the  precise  time  that  theyw^re,  wg 


C Cf  -* 

14 


e -t  tVio  i battle  led  to  a conference  with  the  Indian, 
would  have  had  another  Florida  business  of  t<-  hief  the  conference  to  a suspension  of  hestt- 

Creek  war,  in  all  probability,  would  have  remaned  j chiefs,  arm  ^ agrecd  ^ anddld  meet  General 

unrlpiprimned  for  years,  and  would  have  cosiut 
S'ot'rrnl  hhe  the  Florida  war, 


millions— perhaps  more.  Had  General  Jesup  com- 
alied  with  fire  order  of  General  Scott,  -ceased  ad 
operations,  and  marched  his  troops  and  encamped 
p,  ,,  Mitchell”  his  volunteers  would  have 
abandoned  fom  and  recur, ted  to  their  hones,  curs- 
fnc  him  for  a coward.  The  warriors  whom  he 
bad  brought  over  would  have  dubbed  h.m  wt. 


dnaine  coiiicicugc  w »«.  — - 

liii.  s.  The  chiefs  agreed  to,  and  did  meet  General 
Je*up  a’  Fort  Dade,  and  entered  into  a capsula- 
tion to  leave  the  country  and  go  west  of  ihe  Missis- 
sippi Two  or  three  of  the  chiefs  were  retained  as 
hostages  for  the  fulfilment  of  the  capitulation. 
Sometime  before  this,  General  Jesup  nad  oidered 
a detachment  of  tr*  ops,  under  the  command  of 
Colone's  Fanning  and  Harney,  with  a quantity  of 

nr  vSons  up  the  St.  Johns  river  to  Lake  Monroe, 
provisions,  up  i a tack- 


Utl^o^^y'nfwo'uTd6  h"  pSd^d  | ^ The  en'emy, 
i^ined  the  hoL.«,  Yes. ^ Jffie^d  ^W^n^ 


Imeii^be^esult'of'  obedience  to~Geueral  ScOtt’s  or- 
ders.  Bu*  I repeat,  by  the  prompt,  fearless  and 
efficient  dircharre  of  his  duty, an  end  was  pul  to , the 
war-  more  than  a thousand  prisoners  were  taken, 
and’in  a few  days  four  or  five  hundred  mote  sur- 
rendered, in  all  over 'fourteen handed ^ who  were. 


tides!  and  a”fr!endly  intercourse  was ‘ 
with  all;  and,  by  an  agreement  entered  into  at 


rendered,  in  all  over  fourteen  hundred,  .ho  were  wtth  atl^oy  .an  ^ (a„d 

with  many  others  that  subsequently  came  in  by  he  | b who  were  not>  sent  jn  their  adhesion.)  Ihe 
solicitations  of  the  friendly  chiefs,  sent  west  of  1th  assemble  at  Tampa  Bay,  m May, 


solicitadons^of^  the  friendly  oh'ef^'jem  west  of  the  | assemble 'at  Tampa  Bay, 

superintendence  o 1 1837,  and,  from  there,, star,  for  Ihe  West. 
i t>.,r  .r/-.triritVi«tf»nflir;9'  this  gallant 


their  removal.  Bat,'  notwithstanding  this  gallant 
and  successful  conduct.  General  Scott  severely  cen- 
sured  General  Jesup  for  disobeying  his  ordeis  . . • 
General  Jesup’s  course  met  the  entire  approba- 
tion  of  Ihe  Executive,  and  the  War  Department. 
General  Scott  was  recalled  from  Alabama  , owing, 

I have  little  doubt,  to  the  slowness  of  hsmove 
LeaTand  to  a knowledge  of  the  fact  that  General 
Scott’s  censure  of  General  Jesup  was 
The.  Creek  war  being  ended,  General  Je^up  was  o 
dered  to  proceed  to  Florida  and  take  char/ e ° " 

war  He  proceeded  some  time  in  October,  and  to 
which  we  will  now  return  with  our  history. 

I believe  General  Jesup  was  dtrected  to  act  wr  h 
Governor  Call,  or  to  take  chargeoflhewajr 
rhief  Ido  not  know  whicn-1  believe  the  latter. 
He  went  through  a portion  of  Florida  with  a ima 
detachment  of  mounted  men,  to  join  Governor 
Call-  and  on  his  way  he  surprised  an  Indian  vil- 

, ’ an(j  took  forty-two  prisoners  of  Indians  and 

iegroes,  from  which  he  returned  to  Withlacoochee 
and  swept  the  swamps  from  the  Fort  King  road  to 
Fort  Clinch,  near  the  mouth  of  the  river  m which 

air  nf  his  force  to  Fort  Armstrong,  on  the 
Fort  King  road  Soon  after  he  pushed,  with  a 
force  of  one  thousand  treops,  consisting  of  regu- 
!°Jf  marines,  Alabama  volunteers,  and  Indian 
into  Ihe  centre  of  the  peninsula,  where,  u 
warriors,  into  me  ^ ^ad  never  been  before.  On 

his  wa’v  he  sent  a deiachmenl  against  Ihe  village 
e Osuchee  which  surprised  the  chief,  Osuchee, 
killed  him, ’his  son,  and  Iwo  other  chiefs,  took  a 
number  of  prisoners,  (seme  of  whom  escaped , af- 
mr  which  the  detachment  returned  >nd  J0,nef  h'“/ 
He  proceeded  with  all  his  fotce  to  the  ne  ghbor- 
ft®  ? of  the  Lake  Tohopkalegee.  Here  the 

A,r°l  nf  the  army  under  Col.  Henderson,  came 
advance  ot  the  army some, 


was  a complete  and  successful  termination  of 
the  Florida  war,  and  it  was  accomplished  in 
as  short  a lime  as  any  Indian  war  since  the  fin 

settlement  of  our  country.  Indians 

In  conformity  wiih  the  stipulations,  ^Indians 
beoanto  assemble  in  the  latter  pan  of  May,  and 
beginning  of  June, at  Tampa  Bay  and  Fort  Mellon, 
fo^prepare  for  the  West;  but  ^ 

measles  broke  out  among  those  at  lamPa  fa' 
Safety  to  the  army  and  humanity  to  the  Indians 
required  that  they  should  be  kept  apart-to  ihe 
army,  that  the  contagion  might  not  be  sprea  J ’ 
and  humani'y  to  the  Indians,  that  they . should  be. 
Sent  at  a place,  and  in  a situation,  with  respect To 
water  andPother  advantages,  to  make  the  disea^ 
SfaS.  The  disease  raged  with  great  violence 
and  many  whole  families  were  swept  off.  The 
llLoC  the  disease  reached  Fo.t  MeHoa,  wherej 
large  body  had  assembled,  and  many  ot  then 
were  furniLd  with  provisions  tc . take  them  l 
Tamna  Bay.  It  was  alsoreported  at  Fort  Meitoi 

that  the  smallpox  raged  among ^the^ In  i ^ ^ 

in  direct  violation  of  the  conditions  of  the  capm 
Th'as  been  asked,  why  did  G«neral  Jesnp  n 

rptain  and  prevent  the  Indians  from  breaking ; u 
why  did  he  not  pursue  and  overtake  them, 
broken  up?  The  answer  is,  the  efficiency  of  the  i 
mv  was  greatly  weakened  by  severe  fatigue, 
marches,  and  constant  and^  severe  “"cise;^ 


re! , horses  wete  completely 


pnA  tcok  & 


number  of  prisoners. 


was, left  for  him  to  do  at  that  time.  He  called 
ajme  fi*esh  troops  of  Florida  volunteers  into  action, 
the  efficient  troops  which  he  had,  and  two  volun- 
teer companies  from  Georgia.  They  were  put  to 
the  service  of  scouting  and  defen  Jin?  the  frontier, 
lhis  duty  was  conunued  un'il  the  following  No 
vember  which  may  be  regarded  as  the  commence- 
ment of  the  next  campaign. 

The  number  of  Indians  killed  or  taken  in  the 
campaign  which  I have  briefly  described,  by  Gene- 
ral Jesup,  was  over  five  hundred.  I will  riot  now 
detain  the  House  with  specific  details  of  the  mili- 
tary operations  of  General  Jesup,  for  the  balance 
ol  the  time  he  had  charge  of  the  Florida  war, 
but  re, er  you  to  Senate  document  No.  507  se- 
cond  session  of  the  Twenty  fifth  Congress,  by  which 
U will  be  seen  he  continued  to  defend  the  frontier  to 
scour  the  country  far  and  wide,  as  his  means  and 
torce  wouid  enable  him,  and  to  surprise,  kill  and 
capture  the  enemy  when  and  wherever  he  could 
find  them;  by  which,  also,  it  will  be  found  that  from 
the  time  he  commenced  operations,  or  took  charge 

isqc16  w.^r-  ,n  F orit,a^  "hich  was  in  December, 
1836  until  he  withdrew  in  May,  1838,  the  number 
ot  Indians  and  negroes  taken,  with  those  who  sur- 
rendered, amount! d to  near  twenty-four  hundred 
over  seven  hand  ed  of  whom  were  warriors.  Their 
villages  were  all  destroyed-iheir  cattle,  horses,  and 
nther  stock,  with  nearly  all  their  other  property 
were  taken  or  destroyed-.he  hammocks  and 
swamps  were  every  where  penetrated,  and  the 
vhole  country  was  traversed  from  the  Geor-ia  line 

0 the  southern  extremity  of  Florida.  Tne  small 

lands  of  the  enemy  wh'ch  were  left,  were  dispersed 
iver  that  extensive  region,  with  little  left  but  their 
lfles.  Such  was  the  condition  of  the  war,  and 
uch  the  situation  of  the  enemy,  when  Gen.  Jesup 
urrendered  the  command.  ” 

Mr  Chairman,  I have  traced  up  the  principal 
peratlons  of  the  Florida  War.  I have  done  so 
Plhe  P«rPose  °f  presenting  to  the  country  the 
nTf  1 order  ^at  it  maybe  known 

w Adnnn,stra,i°n  or  the  Executive,  and 
e War  Department,  are  chargeable  with  any  mis- 
irtunrs  or  delay  attending  the  prosecution  of  that 
* t.  1 ,15ve  a,s3  done  80  for  the  purpose  of  plac- 

herahMr0ffiCer'u’  Wh°  Were  the  imm^iate  active 
. erat  irsin  the  war,  in  a proper  manner  before 

.e  pubhe  to  the  end  that  jusiice  may  be  awarded 
whom  justice  is  due. 

In  relation  to  the  Executive  and  the  War  De- 

er  eT^°,n  m^an  ?rwil1  be  al,ached> if blame 
kelHvenf/nd  *nd  Such  wiM  be  ,he  decision  of  an 
telligent  and  generous  community.  The  Execu- 

• e was  thwarted  in  his  efforts  to  augment  the  r e- 

1 ar  army;  hence  the  War  Department  was  driven 
the  necessity  of  carrying  on  the  war  with  volun- 

iL^ynpn’  3 *"?!?  bcth  ejrPensive  and  uncertain. 

and  dela>r  has  been  consequence, 
t the  Executive  could  do  no  better.  He  was 

n Parddfor  “"Y  a$  Con?re8S  finished 

n and  for  these  alone  is.  he  responsible.  All  re- 

nsibihty  and  all  consequences  must  rest  with 
the insufficiency  of  those  means.  Con- 
,ss,s  also  responsible  for  all  the  unhappy  conse- 
fn«s  tha,  resu  ted  f the  unljme|y 

i ‘anVhv^h3  l,U'i.ed’‘0ur  lhe  Purr,03es  oT Pacifica- 
i,  and  by  which  the  whole  operations  of  the  War 


Department  were  checked  and  thrown  into  confu- 
Sl®nu*  * rePeat  that  nothing  that  was  in  ihe  power 
of  the  Executive  and  the  War  Department  to  do, 
was  left  undone.  The  best  judgment  has  bten  ex- 
ercised, and  the  best  direction  has  been  given  to 
that  judgment.  I repeat,  whatever  failures  or  de- 
lay are  connected  wuh  the  Florida  war,  so  far  as 
'he  Executive  is  concerned,  resulted  from  the  want 
of  more  efficient  means.  I also  repeat,  that  what- 
ever inefficiency  may  seem  to  attach  to  the  Execu- 
tive has  its  origin  in  the  want  of  proper  means. 
Lastly,  I repeat,  whatever  failures  or  delay  are  con- 
nected  with  the  Florida  war,  have  their  foundation 
in  the  want  of  more  efficient  means,  and  are 
chargeable  to  Congress  and  the  character  of  the 
country.  But,  sir,  speaking  with  reference  to  the 
means  with  which  the  Executive  has  been  fur- 
nished, I ask  to  present  some  other  causes  which 
have  operated  unfavorably,  and  must  so  continue 
to  operate,  to  a speedy  termination  of  that  war.  I 
have  given  a description  of  the  face  of  Florida. 

pvercr .ad van ta£e8  whlch  the  swamps,  hammocks, 
everglades,  and  morasses,  give  the  savages 

fectu^l  “ti,  C‘','liZed  “0deS  0f  Warfare 
lectual  The  swamps  are  almost  impenetrable 

except  to  the  savages,  who  know  their  secret  passes. 

Ihe  hammocks  and  everglades  form  a covering 

and  hiding  places  for  the  savages,  which  rende? 

viln  ^Pervri.ous  ,be  keenest  eye  and  the  most 
g ant  search.  The  first  warning  the  pursuer  has 
of  the  enemy  is  the  crack  of  hi,  rifle,  oV  the  effect 

rhJ1!?  Sh°i*  1 am  toId  lhat  one  of  ,he  oncers  of 
the  Florida  service  has  been  shot  at  (and  wounded 

of.en)  fourteen  times  in  various  attacks,  and  never 
saw  a hostile  Indian,  such  is  the  security  the  ene- 
my enjoy  by  the  natural  advantages  which  the 
face  ot  Florida  gives  them.  Add  to  this  the  ex- 
tent or  spread  of  territory  which  covers  over  forty 
• housand  square  miles,  over  which  the  enemy  are 

?hT!T  u STU  bandiltis*  Add  to  these  the  fact 
that,  though  Florida  is  destitute  of  resources  for 
a civilized  army,  it  abounds  in  naiural  productions 
suited  to  an  Indian.  The  wild  potato,  the  coonti 
h°r^Han'VIle  Sabba?e  ,ree.  ‘^e  the  substi  utes  for 

ah  S IhC  Wlth  which  ,he  lakes  and  ponds 
abound,  the  gofer,  ihe  turkey,  and  the  deer,  which 
ffiey  know  where  to  find,  and  how  to  kill,  are  their 
meat.  It  is  entirely  impossible,  and  must  ever  re- 

‘°  ^rVG  lhem  ouf>  for  nature  feeds  them 
scarcely,  on  their  part;  and  as  to 
clothing,  the  climate  renders  that  not  only  unneces- 
sary,  but,  for  Ihree-fourths  of  .he  year!  actoaUy 
turdensome  A warrior  disdains  to  encumber 
himself  with  garments  beyond  his  buckskin  leg- 
gins,  moccasins,  and  brcech-clout.  S 

The  Florida  contest  is  really  no  longer  a war  of 

dfe  d.!fhrnlf,S  °nr  hunting , finding,  and  catching— 

«hp  difficulties  of  which  may  be  imagined,  but  can 
only  be  realized  by  those  who  have  been  practical 

£fr7„HrS  °f  itS  °Peratio"s-  Nothing  is  m“ 
r I d unjust  than  to  compare  this  war  with  other 
-f.u.an  wars  Known  to  our  country;  for  there  is  in 
truth,  scarcely  one  feature  that  will  bear  compari- 
ng rnV!  -e  Iudlans  from  cur  frontier,  to 
push  them  farther  into  the  wilderness,  and  enlarge 

-brdair’  haS  heen  ,hft  cummon  policy,  as 
the  history  of  our  frontier  Indian  wars  shows-  but 
such  is  not  ike  character  of  the  war  in  Florida 


c ^ 


16 


The  Indians  would  long  since  have  abandoned  that 
country,  if  they  had  had  a place  of  retreat,  as^the 
Indians  of  the  West  have  always  had.  But,  sur- 
rounded as  they  are,  by  the  Gulf  of  Mexico  on 
one  side,  by  the  Atlantic  ocean  cn  another,  and  the 
inhabited  States  on  the  third,  they  are  unable  to  re- 
cede from  the  country,  even  under  the  severest  pres_ 
sure  They  are  therefoie  reduced  to  the  necessity  ot 
hiding  themselves  in  the  numerous  covers  with 
which  the  country  abounds,  and  we  t > that  ot  see/t- 
inz  for  firm.  Toe  . peratkm  of  finding,  running 
down,  and  catching,  some  twelve  or  fifteen  hundred 
wild  Indians,  scattered  over  a i area  ot  forty  thou- 
sand square  miles  of  wilderness,  c vered  with  inac- 
cessible reheats  and  fastnesses,  will  be  found  to  be 
fraught  with  difficulties  wh;ch  have  never  been  met 
with  in  this  country  nor  surpas  ed  in  any  other. 

If  the  Indians  would  concentra'e  and  tight  a de- 
cisive battle,  there  is  perhaps  not  a regiment  in  Flo 
rida  that  could  not  el  se  the  war  forever  by  defeat 
ing  them.  But  such  is  not  their  policy.  1 hey 
Itnow  their  strength  consists  in  d sperdon,  no.  in 
concentration.  By  scattering  in  small  squads  over 
that  immense  territory,  they  see  that  we  can  neither 
find  nor  effectually  assail  ’hem.  They,  in  fact,  be 
come  intangible  to  military  operations.  Hence  the 
war  may  linger  through  many  years,  with  the  u - 
most  effort  that  may  be  used  to  terminate  it  and  it 
is  the  op'nion  of  many  most  experienced  in  the  pro- 
gress of  this  war,  that  time  is  to  be  an  important 
element  in  bringing  it  to  a close,  and  that  no  better 
plan  can  be  deviled  for  that  purpose  ihan  tnat  now 
in  operation  by  the  War  Deparment,  and  carrying 
out  the  provisions  of  the  occupation  bill  now  beiore 

the  House.  . . 

Mr.  Chairman,  while  I am  wi'ding  that  unprin- 
cipled demagogues,  and  brainless  coxcombs,  shall 
exercise  fud  sway  in  their  denunciations  ot  the 
Administration  for  what  they  please  to  call  the 
failure  of  the  Florida  war,  I will  ask  the  attention 
of  an  honest  and  intelligent  commomy,  while  1 
present  for  their  consideiauon  some  other  wars  in 
other  countries,  but  answering  the  description  ot 
this,  with  the  excep  ion  of  the  single  change  of 
names;  in  the  progiess  and  conduct  iff  w hich  they 
will  find  amp  e reasons  for  the  delays  of  this— rea- 
sons which,  with  them,  will  be  found  amply  sufh- 
c ent  to  secure  the  Administration  fiom  dis.  rv.ee, 
or  even  imputation,  and  the  American  arms  from 

dishonor.  . . „ , , , 

D,rius,  King  of  Persia,  to  sitiffv  an  unbounded 
ambition,  and  extend  his  conquests,  declared  war 
against  the  Scythtan?.  H s bn  ther,  Anabrn  s in 
whom  he  had  great  confidence,  remonsirat  d 
against  this  exp  d tion,  and  offered,  among  other 
strong  objections,  that  the  Scythians  w»re  separated 
from  Per  s' a bv  an  immense  distance  ot  s<  a and 
land;  and  bestd-s,  the  Scythians  were  a peepe 
that  dw^lt  in  wild  and  uncultivated  deserts,  having 
neither  towns  nor  houses;  no  fixed  >eitlements  or 
places  of  habitation.  * * * As  they  are  accus 

timed  to  remove  from  place  to  place,  it  they  should 
think  proper  to  fly  before  you,  not  out  of  fear 
or  cowardice,  lor  they  are  a very  courteous 
and  warlike  people,  but  only  with  a design  to 'ha- 
rass and  ruin  your  army  by  continued  and  fatt- 
ening marches;  what  will  become  of  you  in  such  an 
mncultiva'ed  and  barren  country,  where  you  will 


neither  find  forage  for  your  horses  nor  provisions  for 
your  men?  * « * * Darius  heard  his  brother 

in  kindness,  but  no  admonition  was  sufficient  to 
drive  him  from  his  mad  purpose.  He  commenced 
his  march  from  Susa  at  the  head  of  seven  hundred 
thousand  tro<  ps.  His  fleet  consisted  of  six  hun- 
dred ships,  which  were  chiefly  managed  by  loni- 
aus  and  other  Grecian  nations  that  dwelt  upon  the 
sea  coast  of  As  a Minor  and  the  Hellespont.  He 
marched  his  army  towards  the  Thracian  Bospho- 
rus, which  he  passed  upon  a bridge  of  boats;  af- 
er  m h;ch,  having  made  himself  master  ot  all 
Thrace,  he  came  to  the  Danube,  where  he  had  or- 
dered h s fleet  to  meet  him.  As  soon  as  ihe  Scythi- 
ans were  informed  of  the  march  of  Darius  against 
ihem,  knowing  their  want  of  strength  to  meet  him, 
they  appl  e t to  the  neighboring  people  to  join  lti 
their  defence,  some  of  whom  gave  in,  but  most  of 
whom  preferred  neutral  ground;  but  of  this  refusal 
they  soon  had  reason  to  repent. 

The  first  wise  precaution  taken  by  the  Scy- 
thians was,  to  secuie  iheir  wives  and  children, 
by  sending  them  to  themrsi  northern  par  s of  the 
country  and  with  them  all  their  herds  and  flocks, 
reserving  nothing  for  themselves  but  that  which 
they  could  carry  with  them,  and  what  was  neces- 
saty  tor  the  support  of  the  army.  Another  precau- 
tim  which  they  observed  wa«,  to  fill  up  al  the 
wells  stop  up  all  their  sp  ings  and  consume  all  the 
forage  in  those  parts  through  wh’ch  ihe  Persian  ar- 
my was  to  pass  The  policy  then  prac-ised  was 
to  marchashoit  distance  before  Darius’s  army, 
and  lead  them  first  into  the  countries  of  those  who 
refused  to  join  them  against  the  Persians  to  the 
end  that  their  substance  might  be  consumed  by  so 
vast  an  army.  This  being  accomplished,  they  led 
the  enemy  into  barren  regions,  whtre  there  was 
neither  wa'er,  provisions,  nor  forage— retreating 
but  a short  distance  before,  and  leading  him  into 
such  places  as  su  ted  them  best.  Whenever  the 
Persians  manifested  a disposition  to  attack  them 
they  would  quicken  their  ma  ch  and  lead  them  stil 
farther  into  famine  and  thirst.  At  last  Dartus  see 
in-  no  hope*  of  bringing  the  enemy  to  battle,  am 
"rowing  wary  of  long  and  fruitless  matches,  sen 
a herald  to  the  king  of  the  Scythian-,  whose  nam 
w?s  hid  rihyrsus,  with  tnis  message  in  lys  name 
“Prince  of  the  Scjthians,  wherefore  dost  thou  con 
tioually  fly  before  me?  Why  do,t  thou  not  stoj 
somewhere, or  other,  either  to  give  me  battle  if  hot 
eelest  thyself  able  to  encounter  me,  or  it  tho 
■hinkest  tiynslf  too  weak  to  acknowledge  th 
master  by  presenting  him  wi  h eaith  and  water ? 

To  this  communication  Indirthyrsus  replied  b 
the  same  herald:  ‘7/  I fly  before  thee,  Prince  c 
the  Persians,  it  is  not  because  I fear  thee.  W ha 
I do  now  is  no  m -re  han  what  I am  used  to  do  m tin 
ofpo?c -.  Wo  Scythians  have  neither  c ites  nor  lant 
to  defi  nd.  If  thou  hast  a m nd  to  f rce  us  to  cou 
o an  engagement,  come  and  attack  the  tombs  ' 
our  fathers,  and  thou  shall  find  what  manner 
nu  n we  are.  As  to  the  title  of  master  which  the 
assumes',  keep  it  for  other  nations  than  it 
Scythians  For  my  part,  I acknowledge  no  othi 
master  than  the  great  Jup  ter,  one  of  my  own  a 


• The  ancient  method  of  acknowledging  submission  a id 
vitude  to  the  conqueror. 


17  ' 


cestors,  and  the  goddess  Testa.”  Darius  was  great- 
ly enraged  at  what  he  regarded  so  inso- 
lent an  answer,  and  pushed  further  and  faster 
in  his  mad  career.  Just  when  his  army  was  reduc- 
ed to  the  last  extremity,  there  came  a herald 
to  Darius  from  the  Scythian  prince  with  a 
bird,  a mouse,  a frog,  and  five  arrows,  for  a 
present.  The  king  desired  to  know  the  meaning 
of  tho^e  gifts.  The  herald  answered  that  his  cr 
ders  were  only  to  deliver  them,  and  nothins  more; 
and  that  it  was  left  for  the  Persian  king  to  find  out 
the  meaning.  Darius  concluded,  at  first,  that  the 
Scythians  thereby  consented  to  deliver  up  the 
earth  and  water  to  him  which,  he  supposed,  were 
represented  by  the  mouse  and  frog,  as  also  their 
cavalry,  whose  swiftness  was  represented  by  the 
bird,  together  with  their  own  persons  and  arms,  re- 
presented by  the  arrows.  But  one  of  his  lords 
expounded  the  enigma  in  a different  manner.  I 
know,  says  he  to  the  Persians,  that,  unless  you  can 
fly  away  in  the  air  like  birds,  or  hide  yourselves  in 
the  eartn  like  mice,  or  swim  in  the  water  like  frogs, 
you  shall  in  no  wise  avoid  the  arrow's  of  the  Scy- 
thians. 

The  whole  Persian,  army  had  now  nothing  be- 
fore the ir  eyes  but  ruin  and  famine.  Instant  re- 
treat was  all  the  salvation  for  the  remainder  of  those 
who  survived  the  famine  and  fatigue  of  the  Scy- 
thian campaign.  Darius  returned  to  Susa  wuh 
scarce  had'  his  army.  Such  was  the  fate  of  the  Scy- 
thian war;  such  was  the  failure  of  one  of  the  most 
powerful  nations  on  the  face  of  the  eaith,  with 
one  of  the  most  powerful  armies  that  ever  marched 
against  an  enemy,  headed  by  a prince  flu-hed  with 
victory,  and  adorned  with  fresh  laurels  by  the  con- 
quer of  As>yria  and  the  destruction  of  Babylon,  in 
an  attempt  to  subdue  a small  nation  of  half  civi- 
lized wanderers;  and  such  were  the  advantages 
which  the  face  of  the  country  and  the  extent  of 
territory  gave  the  Scythians— advantages  in  no  re- 
spect superior  to  those  enjoyed  by  the  Seminoles  in 
Florida  for  their  defence.  The  Scythians  defeated 
the  Persian  army  by  wandering,  and  not  fighting. 
The  Seminole  Indians  have  it  in  their  power  to 
long  prevent  a termination  of  the  Florida  war  by 
wandering,  and  not  fighting,  by  the  same  advan- 
tages that  the  Scythians  enjoyed. 

In  the  ye  r 1655  Jamaica  was  conquered  by  the 
English, and  the  Spaniards  d riven  out.  Soon  after  the 
English  laws  were  established  tn  the  island,  the  in- 
habitant found  themselves  beset  and  plundered  by 
some  wandering  robbers  who  issued  from  the 
mountains  of  Clatendon,  situated  in  tha.  inte- 
rior of  the  island.  These  robbers  were  called 
maroons,  and  principally  consisted  of  negroes 
and  their  descendants,  who,  from  time 

'to  time,  had  escaped  from  their  mas- 

ters, and  taken  refuge  in  the  mountains,  or 
cockpits.  The  mountains  of  Clarendon  are  lofty, 
rematkably  broken,  consisting  of  rocks,  covered,  in 
some  parts,  with  dense  shrubbery,  with  narrow, 
leep  dt  files,  leading  to  openings  more  expanded, 
callen  cockpits,  and  other  hiding  places,  fit  for  se- 
i«re  retr  ats  for  robbers  and  plunderers.  The 
mrlteai  attention  of  the  colonial  Government  was 
;iven  to  the  security  of  the  planters  and  herdsmen 
rom  the  daily  depredations  of  the  maroons.  Gar- 
risons and  posts  were  established,  troops  were  sta 
2 


tloned  at  suitable  points  to  defend  the  frontier,  bue 
all  to  but  little  effect.  Robberies,  depredations  on 
property,  and  murders,  by  the  maroons,  was  a por- 
tion of  every  day’s  news.  The  attention  of  the 
colonial  Government  was  called  and  directed  more 
earnestly  and  urgently  to  the  safely  of  the  frontier 
and  the  reduction  of  the  maroons;  but  all  still  to 
little  effect — murders  and  depredations  were  but 
little  abated — the  work  of  surprise,  plunder,  and 
death,  still  went  on.  The  attention  of  the  British 
Parliament  was  called  to  the  maroon  war;  but 
year  after  year  passed  away  and  the  maroon  war 
still  raged.  The  British  arms  were  called  into  ac- 
tive  requisition,  troops  of  rangers  were  sent  to 
scour  the  mountain  passes,  defiles,  and  cockpits, 
but  no  maroons  could  be  seen,  with  a few  excep- 
tions. Fresh  trails  would  be  made  on  purpose  to 
iead  the  rangers  into  narrow  defiles,  when,  on  a 
sudden,  the  maroons  would  fire  on  them  from 
their  hiding  places  and  cut  off  whole  companies, 
without  any  other  discovery  than  the  report  of  the 
musket,  the  smoke  from  its  muzzle,  and  ihe  death 
which  ensued.  Sir,  I have  not  time  to  detail  this 
war  and  its  bloody  consequences.  It  is  sufficient 
for  my  purpose  to  say  that  perhaps  there  never 
were  over  one  thousand  maroon  warriors  at  any 
one  time,  and  yet  the  war  lasted  near  two  thirds  of 
a century,  with  but  little  intermission  of  confirmed 
peace.  It  is  sufficient  to  say  that  such  were  the 
advantages  that  the  inaccessible  (inaccessible  to 
any  thing  but  a maroon)  passes,  narrow  defiles, 
cockpits,  and  h ding  p.aces  that  the  Clarondon 
mountains  afforded  the  maroons,  that  a handful  of 
them  (comparatively  speaking)  were  able  to  keep 
at  bay  the  power  of  the  British  arms.  Wnile  the 
British  lion  was  prowling  unscared  over  vast 
and  wide-spread  India,  shak  ng  the  earth  and  mak- 
ing all  creation  tremble  at  his  toar,  he  was  com- 
pelled to  shake  his  mane  and  sneak,  in  dismay  and 
defeat,  from  the  presence  of  a handful  of  maroons* 
Such  were  ihe  natural  advantages  which  the 
maroons  enjoyed,  owing  to  the  face  of  their  coun- 
try. But,  great  as  those  a 1 vantages  were,  the  Se- 
minoles enjoy  those  tnat  are  equal  for  their  mode 
of  warfare,  and  against  which  the  American  arms 
have  had  to  contend.  The  maroon  war  was  finally 
closed  in  179 6, mot  before;  nor  would  it  yet  have  been 
closed,  but  for  the  importation  of  the  Spanish  chas- 
seurs and  bloodhounds,  about  which  I will  have  to 
say  scme'hing  before  I take  my  seat. 

In  that  part  of  Asia,  or,  perhaps,  more  properly, 
in  Asia  in  Russia,  are  what  are  called  the  Circas- 
sian mountains,  which  are  inhabited  by  a people 
called  after  the  mountains,  or  perhaps  the  mountain > 
are  called  after  them.  Be  that  as  it  may,  tbe  peo- 
ple are  called  Circassians.  The  Government  of 
Russia  has  owned  that  province  of  Asia  fi  r per- 
haps a century  or  more.  Her  arms  and  her  laws 
have  been  extended  to  the  subjection  of  all  the 
tribes  and  nations  within  the  limits  of  that  pro-* 
rince,  except  the  Circassians,  who  have  never  been 
conquered  to  this  day.  Perhaps  the  description 
given  of  the  Clarendon  mountains  of  Jama:ca 
may,  to  some  extent,  serve  for  a descrip- 
tions of  the  Circassian  mountain*,  and  the 
advantages  of  the  one  are  similar  to  ihe  other, 
for  national  defence.  The  Circassians,  I believe  . 
rank  with  what  is  called  half  ciyiltz:d  pe  pie.  £ 


% £ *. 

18 


think  their  concentrated  military  force  has,  at  no 
time,  exceeded  one  or  two  thousand  warriors.  The 
arms  qf  Russia  have  been  directed  against  that  peo- 
ple, with  but  little  intermission,  from  the  time  she 
has  owned  the  province.  Campaign  after  cam- 
pa  go  has  marched,  with  ten,  filteen,  and  upwards 
of  twenty  thousand  troops,  as  brave  as  ever  bore 
arms,  or  followed  the  Russian  standard;  and  as 
often  as  they  have  been  marched,  so  often  have 
they  failed,  or  been  defeated.  rlhe  Russian  eagle, 
that  hovers  over,  unscared,  one  half  of  the  conti- 
nent of  inhabited  Europe,  has  been  compelled  to 
flee  from  the  presence  of  a handful  of  Circassians, 
in  defeat  and  dismay.  Ten  thousand  of  Russia’s 
bravest  veterans  have  fallen  in  a single  campaign 
before  them.  They  are  unconquered  and  uncon- 
querable, so  loDg  as  their  scat’ered,  small  clans,  re- 
main united  for  the  common  defence  of  their  c un- 
try, and  so  long  as  the  mountains  stand,  and  the 
passes,  fastnesses,  and  defiles  remain;  for  these  are 
the  natural  advantages  by  which  they  are  enabled 
to  contend  against  the  almost  unlimited  powers  of 
a Russian  Autocrat;  and  yet  the  natural  ad,Tantages 
that  the  Circassian  mountains  afford  that  people  in 
the  safety  of  their  retreats,  does  not  excel  the  ad- 
vantages the  everglades,  swamps,  and  hammocks 
secure  to  the  Seminoles  in  Florida. 

The  failures  of  the  Persian  army  to  defeat  Scy- 
thia; the  procrastination  for  more  than  half  a cen- 
tury of  the  maroon  war,  and  the  total  failure  of  a 1 
Russia  to  conquer  Circassia,  can  all  be  acco  unted  for 
by  the  honest,  in  elligent  and  candid  world,  and  yet 
this  Administration  must  be  the  subject  of  Federal 
derision,  ridicule  and  denunciat  on,  because  the  Flo 
rida  war  has  not  been  terminated  in  thespace  of  two 
or  three  years,  with  all  the  insurmountable  difficul- 
ties that  have  their  foundation  in  nature  to  contend 
with — limited  means,  a destitution  in  resources  at 
the  theatre  of  war,  and  the  untimely  and  embarrass- 
ing interposition  of  Congress — all  of  which  have 
conspired  to  make  this  war  complicated  and  as 
difficult  of  termination  as  thdle  to  which  I have 
referred. 

Sir,  the  spirit  of  persecution  and  demagoguism 
which  has  hunted  the  Executive  and  theWar  Depart- 
ment, as  well  as  some  of  the  officers,  through  this 
war,  is  worthy  of,  and  in  character  with,  the  reckles- 
demagogues  of  other  times  and  other  Governments, 
who  are  always  prepared  to  sacrifice  the  highest  in- 
terest of  their  country  at  the  shrine  of  their  ambi- 
tion. It  is  worthy  of  the  ingratitude  and  inhumani- 
ty of  an  Apries,  when  the  Egyptians  determined  to 
shake  off  the  yoke  that  bound  them  down  in  slavish 
bondage  to  Apries  (Pharao  Hophrah)  they  made 
Amasis  their  king,  Apries  in  exasperation  sent  Pa- 
terbenis,  one  of  his  highest  officers  and  principal 
lord  of  his  court,  to  put  Amasis  under  arrest  and  bring 
him  before  him.  Paterbenis,  faiihful  to  his  prince, 
did  all  he  could  to  execute  his  master’s  order;  but, 
for  want  of  power  and  means , failed  in  his  commission. 
The  base  and  brutal  Apries,  as  a leward  for  his 
fidelity,  treated  him  in  a most  ignominious  and  in- 
human manner,  Vy  cutting  off  his  nose  and  ears, 
for  failing  to  do  that  which  he  had  neither  the 
power  nor  the  means  to  do. 

It  is  in  character  with  the  base  conduct  and 
treachery  of  Hanno,  and  the  vile  faction  he  headed 
in  Carthage,  whose  whole  efforts  were  directed  to 


the  destruction  of  the  immortal  Hannibal,  whose 
success  in  arms,  and  whose  popularity  with  his 
people,  were  a constant  source  of  mortification  and 
disappointment  to  him.  The  management  of  the 
Government  or  Carthage,  and  the  command  of  her 
armies,  were  Hanno’s  ambition;  and,  like  the  Fede- 
ral demagogues  of  this  day  in  our  country,  he 
preferred  to  s*e  the  proud  name  of  Carthage  wither, 
her  arms  dishonored,  and  her  people  sunk  in  infamy 
and  sold  in  slavery,  rather  than  fail  of  his  object; 
and  such  aspiring  demagogues  have  been  the  mis- 
fortune and  curse  of  every  Government  and  peo- 
ple, at  all  times.  So  say:s  the  history  of  the  world 
and  of  man.  But  I will  not  now  take  time  to 
illustrate  by  examples.  The  American  people  will 
be  able  to  appreciate  the  motives  that  give  birth  to 
the  base  changes  against  the  Administration  in  re- 
ference to  the  Florida  war. 

Mr.  Chairman,  I ask  your  attention,  while  I ex- 
pose the  inconsistency  involved  in  the  cry  against 
the  Administration  for  what  is  called  the  “mis- 
management of  the  Flor.da  war.”  The  Executive 
and  the  War  Department  have  been  charged 
with  impotency  in  its  management,  and  General 
Jesup  has  been  brought  in  for  a large  share  of 
Federal  abuse  and  Federal  censure.  Of  the  Ad- 
ministration I will  say  nothing  more,  farther 
than  repeat,  that  all  that  has  been  done,  has  been 
done  wi.h  the  best  directed  judgment. 

But  of  General  Jesup  I must  say  something,  by 
way  of  con  »a-t  to  the  services  of  General  Scott. 

General  Jesup  served,  I think,  hardly  a fort- 
night in  the  Creek  war,  and  by  his  efficient  means, 
and  in  violation  of  the  orders,  and  contrary  to  the 
plans,  of  General  Scott,  he  succeeded  in  terminat- 
ing the  war,  and  completed  the  arrangements  by 
which  near  twenty  thousand  Indians  were  moved 
west  of  the  Mississippi.  For  this,  as  I have  be- 
fore remarked,  he  received  General  Scott’s  censure. 

General  Jesup  served  in  Florida,  and  had 
charge  of  the  war  a little  over  seventeen  months, 
in  which  time  he  killed  and  captured  of  the  enemy 
near  twenty-four  hundred,  defended  the  frontier, 
established  posts  and  fortifications,  destroyed  the 
enemy’s  property,  burnt  their  towns,  swept  the 
swamps  and  hammocks,  and  dispersed  the  small' 
remainder,  and  jet  General  Jesup  has  been  abused 
and  denounced  in  no  measured  terms  by  the  Fede- 
ral sheets  of  the  day;  he  has  been  identified  with 
the  War  Department  in  the  charge  of  “impotency” 
and  the  “disgrace  of  the  Florida  war.” 

General  Scott  performed  a campaign  in  Florida 
with  near  five  thousand  troops  (the  bravest  of  the 
brave)  well  supplied,  in  which  he  may  have  killed, 
it  is  said,  five  or  six  of  the  enemy,  and  jet,  straDge 
to  say,  General  Scott,  by  the  same  men  and  the 
same  party,  is  lauded  for  his  bravery  and  his  trans- 
cendent military  services,  and  is  held  up  as  quali- 
fied for  and  entitled  to  the  first  office  in  the  gift  of 
the  American  people.  Yes,  sir,  he  was  really  a 
piominent  candidate  for  the  Presidency  at  the  late 
Hartford  Convention.  (Pardon  me,  sir,  I should 
have  said  Harrisburg.  I am  so  in  the  habit  of  call- 
ing things  by  their  proper  names,  that  I sometimes 
violate  the  rules  of  courtesy.  The  fact  that  it  was 
composed  of  men  of  the  same  party,  governed  by  the 
same  principles, and  whose  object  was  to  effect  about 
the  same  purposes  as  that  of  the  Hartford  conven- 


tion,  led  me  into  the  nominal  mistake.  I will  be 
more  careful  hereafier  ) Yes,  sir,  General  Scott, 
who,  of  all  the  officers  that  ha  t charge  of  the 
Florida  war,  with  greater  means  an  t -g  eater  ad- 
Tantag;s,  did  the  least,  (except  one  whom  I shall 
name  shortly,)  is  held  up  by  the  Opposit.on  as 
worthy  and  qual  tied  for  the  Presidency! 

Sir,  if  there  is  any  disgrace  attached  to  the  con* 
duct  of  the  Florida  war,  or  any  failure  in  its  ma- 
nagement, that  disgrace,  and  that  failure,  must  at- 
tach to  General  Scott.  If  there  was  any  thing  left 
undone,  which  could  or  ought  to  have  been  done, 
in  the  Florida  war,  it  was  the  failure  of  General 
Scott  to  light,  surround,  and  conquer  the  enemy, 
when  they  were  embodied  on  the  Withlacoochee 
river.  At  no  time,  during  the  war,  were  there  so 
great  a r.ufnber  ot  the  enemy  embodied  as  on  the 
Withlacoochee,  when  General  fcott  met  them. 
At  no  time  we;e  there  so  many  efficient  troops  so 
contiguous,  nor  were  the  troops  at  any  time  so  well 
supp’ied,  as  were  the  troops  at  that  time  under 
Gen.  Scott.  He  had  nineteen  hundred  and  sixty  men 
in  his  right  wing,  immediately  under  his  command, 
wiih  sixteen  day*’  provisions.  His  left,  wing 
was  at  Falaklakaha,  consisting  of  the  same  number 
of  men,  and  the  same  quantry  of  provisions,  and 
with  cattle  in  abundance,  and  only  one  or  two  days’ 
march  from  where  the  Indars  were  embodied 
Then  was  the  time  bra  decisive  battle,  if  such  a 
battle  could  have  been  fought  with  the  Indians  at 
any  time.  If  there  was  ever  a time  when  ara  end 
could  have  been  put  to  ill*  Florida  war  by  efficient 
and  prompt  action,  that  was  the  time.  If  ever  there 
were  circumstances  which  put  it  i i ihe  power  of 
any  commander  in  Florida  to  put,  at  one  blow,  an 
end  to  the  war,  these  were  the  circumstances. 
What  wrs  the  course  of  General  Scot  ? It  was,  as 
I have  remarked,  to  attack  the  Indians,  who,  with- 
out the  loss  of  one  man,  retreated  to  the  swamps. 
General  Scott  followed  them  but  four  or  five  miles, 
and  then  took  up  the  line  of  march  for  Tampa  Bay, 
where  he  arrived  in  eleven  days  from  Fort  Drane, 
with  seven  days’  provisions,  and  whr re  he  met  the 
left  wing  of  his  army,  with  a like  quantity  of  pro- 
visions. Sir,  one  is  naturally  led  to  inquire  why 
Gen.  Scott  did  not  send  to  Palaklekaha  for  the  left 
wing  of  his  army,  secure  a few  of  the  enemy’s  cattle 
which  were  in  such  abundance  attack  the  ene- 
my wiih  his  whole  fierce,  and  at  a blow  put  an  end 
to  the  war.  It  has  been  confidently  said  by  some 
officers  of  experience,  that  if  General  Gaines  or 
General  Jesup  had  commanded  at  that  time  at 
Withlacoochee,  with  the  forces  and  provisions  that 
General  Sco  t had,  an  end  would  have  been  put 
to  the  war  by  a decisive  ba’tle.  It  is  said  that  it 
was  a great  error  in  General  Scott  to  permit  the  In- 
dians to  disperse.  They  never  have  since  been  so 
embodied,  nor  will  they  ever  again  be  so  embodied. 

I repeat,  that  there  and  then  was  committed  the  fa- 
tal error,  if  any  error  can  be  justly  charged  in  the 
conduct  of  the  Florida  war.  I charge  this  upon 
General  Scott,  and  I defy  bis  friends  to  get  him 
from  under  the  charge,  unless  they  will  maintain  that 
owing  to  the  character  and  lace  of  the  countty  and 
the  advantages  of  the  swamps,  hammocks,  and  fast- 
nesses the  enemy  enjoyed,  it  was  impossible  for 
him  to  find  and  defeat  them;  and  such  seems  to  be 
the  case,  and  the  apology  upon  which  the  court  of 


inquiry  decided,  as  set  forth  in  Senate  document 
224,  evidence  furnished  the  court  by  Gen.  Scott  him- 
self. I say,  if  the  friends  of  Gen.  Scott  ass:gn  these  as 
good  reasons  why  he  so  signally  failed  in  the  Flo- 
rida war,  then  must  they  cease  their  clamor  against 
the  Administration,  and  their  charges  of  inefficien- 
cy and  “impotent r/”  upon  the  head  of  the  War  De- 
pariment  f.  r not  doing  that  which  they  must  ac- 
knowledge was  impossible  to  be  done,  or  they  must 
consent  to  let  their  would-be  President  rtand 
charged  with  more  inefficiency  and  greater  error, 
than  any  one  officer  connected  with  the  Florida 
war— no  one  having  it  so  much  in  his  power  to  end 
the  war  as  General  Scott. 

I was  amused  to  hear  the  gentleman  from  South 
Carolina,  [Mr.  Thompson,]  when  on  this  subject, 
(Florida  war.)  He  asks: 

“What  has  yet  been  accomplished  by  the  Second  dragoons, 
a regiment  raised  specially  for  that  service!  Nothing,  that  I 
have  ever  heard  of.  I would  not  object  to  raising  one  or  mere 
regiments,  if  I knew  who  were  to  command  them;  if  I could 
have  any  assurance  that  the  command  would  be  given  t©  Gen. 
Floyd  of  Georgia,  or  some  other  such  man.  I,  however,  know 
nonesuch.  Butit  will  be  given  to  no  such  man,  but  to  .some 
palace  pet  or  noisy  pwlitician.  These  appointments  have  been, 
and  will  be  made,  not  with  a view  to  military,  but  to  poli- 
cal  battles;  not  with  a view  to  obtaining  victories  over  the  In- 
dians, but  votes  at  elections.” 

He  knows  no  such  man  as  Gen.  Floyd  ! Ought 
the  gentleman  not  to  have  embraced  Gen.  Scoit 
and  the  hero  of  Tippecanoe? 

But,  sir,  who  is  Gen.  Floyd?  I may  expose  my  ig- 
norance by  asking  this  question.  If  so,  I hope  I will 
rind  an  apolrgv  in  the  iact  that  some  of  us  in  the 
West  have  no  books  to  read  but  the  Bible  and  old 
Tom  Dil worth’s  Spelling-book.  I do  not  make 
the  inquiry  with  any  disrespect  to  the  gentleman, 
who  seems  to  stand  so  h gh  in  the  estimation  of 
die  gentleman  from  South  Carolina,  [Mr.  T.]  Gen. 
Floyd  may  have  slain  his  thousands  and  tens  of 
thousans.  He  may  have  fattened  many  a broad 
field  with  his  slain.  He  may  have  planted  stand- 
ards of  liberty  in  every  quarter  of  the  globe.  Vic- 
tory may  perch  upon  his  banner,  and  conqueror 
may  be  bis  name,  but  it  so  happens  I know  little 
or  nothing  of  him.  I believe  be  had  the  charge  of 
a campaign  in  Florida.  I think  he  was  sent  to  do 
what  Gen.  Nelson  had  failed  to  do.  And  what  did 
they  both  do?  Senate  document  No.  507  informs  us 
that  Gan.  Nelson,  with  a brigade  of  Georgia  vo- 
lunteers, was  directed  to  secure  the  frontier  of  Mid- 
dle Florida  and  the  western  part  of  East  Florida. 
His  operations  covered  the  country  west  of  the  Fort 
Kingroad,  from  the  south  point  of  the  Annuttalc- 
ga  swamp  to  the  Withlacoochee,  and  to  the  head 
of  that  river;  thence  to  the  Suwanee,  and  thence 
west  of  that  river,  and  south  of  the  Tallahassee 
road  to  Stein  Hatch°e,  the  whole  distance  on  the 
coast  being  a continued  swamp,  extending  from 
the  Gulf  of  Mexico  to  the  interior,  from  ten  to 
thirty  miles,  and  along  the  Gulf  a hundred  and 
fifty  miles.  He  had  several  skirmishes  with  the 
enemy,  and  the  result  of  his  operations,  so  far  as 
they  have  been  reported,  are  six  Indians  killed, 
andfouiteen  prisoners.  That  is  something.  General 
Nelson  is  a Democrat,  I am  told. 

Now,  sir,  I have  told  you  I did  not  know  what 
General  Floyd  has  done,  but  I can  tell  you  what 
he  did  not  do.  Afier  General  Nelson  left  Florida, 
General  Floyd  went  on  a campaign.  Kis  opera- 


vl*'  ZQo 
20  ^ 


lions  were  confined  to  the  southern  part  of  Georgia, 
and  northern  line  of  Florida,  near  the  Okeefenoke 
swamp.  His  force  I think  consisted  of  near  one 
thousand  Georgia  volunteers  and  United  States 
regu'ar  troops.  His  campaign  continued  proba- 
bly three  months.  He  returned  without  killing  one 
Indian  or  taking  a prisoner.  This  is  what  he  did 
not  do.  I believe  General  Floyd  is  a modern  Whig! 

“The  King  of  France,  with  fotty  thousand  men, 

Marched  up  a hill,  and  then  marched  down  again.” 

But  my  friend  from  South  Carolina  knows  no 
su<h  man  as  General  Floyd.  He  does  not  like 
pets  of  the  white  palace,  and  noi.-y  politicians;  1 
suppose  he  prefers  bank  pets.  I take  it  lor  granted, 
if  toe  charge  of  the  Florida  war  could  be  put  into 
the  hands  of  the  pets  of  the  bank  marbled  palace 
and  the  friends  of  rotten  corporations;  the  rag  tag 
thinplaster  currency  and  incorporated  swindlers, 
they  m ght  make  as  much  “noise”  as  they  pleased 
in  politics.  Such  generals  would  be  to  the  gentle- 
man’s liking  and  the  liking  of  his  party,  whethei 
they  would  obtain  “ victories  over  the  Indians ” or 
not,  so  that  they  would  “ obtain  votes  at  the  polls.” 

But,  sir,  I wish  it  to  be  understood  that  I neither 
make  the  inquiry  nor  the  expose  which  I have,  in 
jelation  to  General  Floyd,  through  any  disrespect 
t©  that  gentleman,  or  to  diminish  any  claims  to 
chivalry,  bravery,  or  good  conduct,  he  may  have 
achieved  by  his  services  in  the  Florida  war.  On 
ihe  contrary,  it  is  my  desire  that  he  shall  enjoy  all 
the  credit  to  which  his  services  entitle  him.  But 
when  his  friends  are  so  imprudent  as  to  extol  him, 
at  the  expense,  and  to  the  exclusion,  of  all  others 
who  toiled  With  him  in  the  scenes  of  Florida,  a 
plain,  unvarnished  statement  of  facts  is  not  only 
admissible,  but  demanded,  in  justice  to  those  who 
m y be  affected  thereby.  And  I am  whiling  to  ad- 
mit that  General  Floyd  did  all  that  could  have  been 
done  under  the  circumstances  in  which  he  served. 

1 have  stated  that  the  abused  General  Jesup 
ended  tne  Creek  war  in  len  or  fifteen  days,  and 
sent  near  twenty  thousand  Indians  west  of  ihe 
Mississippi;  and  that  he  killed,  captured,  and  took 
pris-.ners,  near  twenty-four  hundred  of  the  enemy, 
in  less  than  seventeen  raon  hs,  during  which  he 
had  charge  of  the  Florida  war.  How  will  these 
compare  with  other  Indian  campaigns  and  Indian 
wais. 

General  Wayne’s  Indian  c?mpa'gn  commenced 
in  1792,  and  ended  in  1795  Wayne’s  last  batil§ 
was  fought  on  the  20ih  August,  1794.  The  In- 
dians did  not  come  in  for  a year  after,  and,  when 
all  to'd,  they  did  not  amount  to  more  than  eleven 
hundred. 

General  G.  R.  Clark,  who  was  considered  one 
of  our  most  successful  Indian  hunters,  never  took 
more  than  one  hundred  and  fifty  Indians;  nor  did 
he  kill  more  than  twice  that  number.  Generals 
Scott  ( not  the  would-be  President)  and  Wilkinson 
ki  led  and  captured  ninety-nine  Indians  in  their 
campaig  i,  for  which  they  received  the  thanks  of 
General  Washington. 

In  the  surprise  at  Tippecanoe  it  is  supposed  fif'y 
Indians  may  have  been  killed  with  the  off-set  of 
one  bundled  and  eighty  of  our  troops  killed  and 
wounded. 

So  Gen.  Jesup,  in  a seventeen  months’  campaign, 
killed  and  captured,and  made  prisoner,  more  Indians 


than  all  killed  and  taken  by  Wayne,  Clark,  Scotty. 
Wilkinson,  and  Tippecanoe  to  boot;  and  yet  the 
Administration,  the  War  Department,  and  General 
Jesup,  are  charged  with  discrace  for  failures  in  the 
Florida  war,  and  General  Winfield  Scott  must  be 
made  President  of  the  United  Slates  Monstrous  ! ! I 
and  Tippecanoe  more  monstrous  ! ! ! ! 

Mr.  Chairman,  I regret  that  my  time  and  the 
limits  of  a speech  will  not  permit  me  to  take  the 
notice  I should  of  many  of  the  gallant  officers  who 
served  in  the  fatiguing  and  harassing  war  of  Flo- 
rida. If  I had  time  and  opportunity,  it  would 
give  me  great  pleasure  to  annex  the  services  of  the 
gallant  Smith,  Taylor,  Hernandes,  Cawlfield, 
Harny,  Fanning,  and  others,  to  their  names. 

I have  a word  to  say,  by  way  of  conclusion,  to 
the  charge  made  upon  the  War  Department  of 
importing  bloodhounds  to  hunt  down  the  Seminole 
India!  s. 

This  charge  is  made  by  the  humane  Federalists. 
Humanity  is  one  of  the  noblest  qualities  of  the 
human  heart,  but  it  sometimes  requires  the  exer- 
cise of  sound  judgment,  to  give  it  a proper  direc- 
rection;  and  unfeigned  humanity  is  i enerally 
blended  with  some  regard  for  truth  ar.d  vera- 
city. We  had  a very  humane  party  during 
our  last  war  with  Great  Britain,  in  which  we  were 
struggling  to  maintain  our  liberty  and  indepen- 
dence. That  was  the  Federal  parly  who,  for  the 
time,  styied  ihemseles  the  peace  party , and  the  same 
party  whose  eyes  are  now  pump  n?,  and  whose- 
hearts  are  bleeding,  at  the  thought  of  employing 
bloodhounds  to  hunt  the  po?r  Seminoles.  At  the 
<ame  time  that  the  whole  line  of  our  frontier  coun- 
try was  bleeding  at  every  pore;  when  the  heavens 
were  illumina  ed  by  night  wi'h  the  torch  of  the 
savage  and  the  conflagration  of  the  frontier  cabins 
along  the  whole  .northern  boundary;  when  the  crack 
of  the  deadly  rifle  was  not  permi'ted  to  die  on  the  earj 
when  the  red  scalping  knife  ;-.nd  tomahawk  were 
never  permitted  to  dry;  and  when  the  work  of  death 
was  the  daily  and  nightly  occupation  of  the  enemy, 
many  a loud  and  fervent  prayer  was  sent  to  Heaven 
by  the  p ace  party  to  revenge,  on  our  countrymen, 
the  blood  of  an  ur.holy  and  unjust  war.  And 
now,  when  the  first  jntell  genre  of  the  morning  isr 
the  indiscr. ornate  slaughter  of  one  or  m re  fami- 
lies, the  burnir'g  of  one  or  more  hous-s,  by  the 
Sammoles,  we  hear  the  same  party  petitioning  men 
and  Heaven  again-t  employing  bloodhound*  to* 
trace  the  enemy  to  their  lurking  places  and  inac- 
cessible retreats — for  no  other  use  is  intended  by 
them. 

The  Florida  Indians  are  peihaps  the  most' 
treacherous  and  inhuman  savages  that  ever  de- 
graded the  human  name,  or  deformed  the  image  of 
man.  They  are  composed  of  every  material  that 
is  vile  and  abominable  in  human  nature  and  de- 
graded in  principle. 

In  the  course  of  this  war,  they  have  not 
only  placed  themselves  without  the  pale  of 
mercy  and  humanity,  by  their  inhuman  and  ind's- 
crim  nate  barbarity,  but  they  have  made  them- 
selves, by  the  laws  of  nations  and  of  war,  subjects 
of  the  gallows,  by  the  violations  of  the  capitula- 
tion solemnly  entered  into  at  Fort  Dade,  which  I 
have  before  described;  and  this  is  the  kind  of  enemy 
against  which  bloodhounds  must  not  be  useJ,  for 


n 


the  purpose  of  ferreting  out  their  places  of  conceal- 
ment. 

Every  wind  from  Florida  bears  upon  its  wings 
the  sickening  intelligence  of  some  innocent  family 
falling  a sacrifice  to  these  plundering  murderers. 
The  intelligence  of  the  patents  of  some  family  h»- 
ving  their  throats  cut,  their  cabin  fired,  and  their 
children’s  brains  dashed  out  upon  its  burning  lo°\s, 
and  the  mangled  bodies  left  to  fatten  the  wolf,  and 
feed  the  raven.  But  all  this  can  be  heard  with 
cold  indifference,  while  the  pitiful  ;vhine  is  spread 
upon  a thousand  petitions  against  employing  blood 
hounds,  to  hunt  the  poor  Seminoles.  Sir,  it  is  all 
the  slang  of  the  demagogue,  and  the  cant  of  the  hy- 
pocrite. I have  in  my  possession  an  extract  from 
Governor  Reid’s  message  to  ihe  Florida  Legisla- 
ture, which  gives  a description  of  one  of  those  hor- 
rible scenes  of  murder  and  burning:  It  is  said  that 
a pious  and  exemplary  citxen,  on  seeing  the  man- 
gled corpses  and  the  smoking  ruins  of  the  dwelling 
exclaimed,  in  feeling  and  horror,  that  he  would 
employ  hell  hounds  and  devils  against  such  an 
enemy. 

But  the  Executive  and  the  War  Department 
riave  been  assailed  and  denounced  from  one  end  of 
the  Union  to  the  other,  for  importing  blood  hound* 

0 be  used  in  the  Florida  war.  Now,  sir,  I have  to 
ntorm  you  that  the  whole  charge  is  but  one  of  the 
eskless,  unprincipled,  and  vi'e  s'anders  of  the 
lmes,  propagated  and  promulgated  tor  the  base 
imposes  of  party.  Neither  the  Executive  nor  the 
war  Department  have  had  any  band  in  the  impor- 
ation  of  blood  hounds.  It  is  the  work  of  the  Flo- 
ic.a  authorities,  a matter  over  which  the  Executive 
nd  the  War  Department  have  no  control,  extent 
whether  they  shall  be  used  as  instruments  of  war  in 
tie  hands  of  the  United  Slates  troops,  or,  if  permit- 
2d,  in  what  manner  they  shall  be  used. 

I present  the  rep’y  of  the  Secretary  of  ihe  War 
)ePartmcnt  to  a commun'cation  of  the  Hon.  H 
L-  WlSE  10  him  on  that  subject,  which  I ask  may 

1 read  by  the  Clerk,  and  which  I shall  make  a parr 
f my  printed  remarks. 

The  Clerk  read  as  follows,  Senate  Document 
b7,  1st  session  26  h Congress,  page  4: 

On  tliis  letter  I endorsed  the  following  decision,  which  was 
mmunicated  to  General  Taylor:  “I  have  always  been  of 

cube  arrnvdfmmUght  l°  be  employed  in  this  warfare,  to  pro- 
dian  tn  hk  h surprlses  a"d  ambuscades,  and  to  track  the 

■ved  hern  uk  g'P  ace:  suPPosed>  >'  General  bt* 

t0  be  necessary,  he  would  not  hesitate  to  take 

^mlerfi,  .pr0cure  The  co,d'b!ooded  and  inhuman 

these  n. o f. perpetrated  up,011  belPless  women  and  children 
« meanl  I m nfvages’  re,nder  u that  every  possi- 

an°.u  d t,e  ”f0rl.ed,o>  in  order  10  protect  the  people 
nn?Jed  or  ! enabIe  the  United  States  forces  to  follow  arid 
pture  or  destroy  the  savage  and  unrelenting  foe.  General 

hi  mav  IIfdi0rV,Un0r^e(! 10  Pr,iCllrc  pucb  number  of  dogs 
he  may  judge  necessary,  it  being  expressly  understood  that 

KS-SSH1- ,tack  and  ST rer  lhe  Mans'  ”o! 


pursuers  were  aided  by  the  sagacity  of  their  do^s-  These  m 
vages  had  approached  a cabinof  peaceful  and  industrious  ^ 

v°nnealrhl!y’ tbatthe  first  of  their  presence  was  given 
by  a volley  from  their  rifles  thrust  between  the  log*  of  thc> 
house;  and  the  work  of  death  was  finished  by  tomahawking  the- 

ffi  t,ader,  te*rin*  from  -them  **  inyfantmcSen"gand 

d i-hirg  their  biains  out  against  the  door  posts  Are  these 
luthless  savages  to  escape  and  repeat  such  scenes  of  blood  be- 
cause they  can  elude  our  fellow- citizens  in  Florida  and  our  re- 
gular soldiers,  and  baffle  their  unaided  efforts  to  overtake  off 
discover  them?  On  a late  occasion,  three  estimable  citizens 
were  killed  in  the  immediate  neighborhood  of  St.  Augustine 
and  one  officer  of  distinguished  merit  mortally  wounded  £ ?s 
n evidence  that  these  murders  were  committed  by  two  Indians 
who,  after  shooting  down  the  father,  and  beating  cS 
die  son  s brains  with  the  butts  of  their  rifles,  upon  hearing  the 
approach  of  the  volunteers,  retired  a few  yards  into  the  woods 
fhadaS!Tieo-therarSelVes  untiI  the  tro°ps  returned  to  town  S 
wa bi?d|eu °f  ihofre  -wll°  had  been  tbus  inhumanly  and 
wantonly  butchered.  It  is  to  be  regretted  that  this  corps  had 
not  been  accompanied  with  one  or  two  hunters,  who,  with 
b^doff>  might  have  tracked  the  blood-stained’ footstep™ 
thes-..  Indians,  have  restored  to  liberty  the  captive  they  were 
dragging  away  with  them,  and  have  prevented  them  from  ever 
again  repeating  such  atrocities  Nor  could  the  severest  casuist 
object  to  our  fellow-citizens  in  Florida  to  Sdi^SS 

sures,  in  order  to  protect  the  lives  of  their  women  and  children. 
Very  respectfully,  your  most  obedient  sprvant, 

Hon.  Henry  A.  Wise,  J.  R.  POINSETT. 

House  of  Representatives, 


[*his  is  the  only  action  or  correspondence,  on  the  part  of  the 
KE2?  that ha3  cver  taken  place  in  relation  to  the  matter, 
n a°, res  t0  caiTyint(»  effect  his  own  re- 
r,eb  da  ,0nT’and  lh18  department  l,a*  neVer  since  renewed 
Je.nn  Vhi  U^’  b° we ver,  t o e n e rtai n the  opinion  ex- 
KideSu,0n- , 1 d0  not  believe  that  descrip- 
rack  il.’e  In  Snhmb  °{)dh0U?d’  n,eCHS;,iiry  to  present  surprise, 
rack  the  Indian  murderer;  but  I still  think  that  every  cabin 

npr7,P°3t,and  e very  detach merit,  should  be  attended 
logs.  That  precaution  might  have  saved  Dade’s  command 
ri  massacre:  and,  by  giving  timely  warning,  have ^evS 

?/nafinthiwCMie  TlZ]'ird,er3  w,1ich  have  been  committed  by  the  I 
lans  in  Middle  Florida.  The  only  successful  pursuit  of  In- 
i murderers  that  I know  of,  was  on  a late  occasion,  when  the 


lt  , , War  Department,  January  26, 1840. 

Sir.  It  is  understood  by  the  Department,  although  not  offi- 
clapy  mformed  of  the  fact,  that  the  authorities  of  the  Territory 

of  cJbadaa^rMrhTPL0-!ed  & pack  °™oodho“n<te  from  the  island 
of  Cuba,  and  I think  it  proper  to  d.rect,  in  the  event  of  thoso 
d°bs  being  employed  by  any  officer  or  officers  under  your  com- 
mand, that  their  use  be  confined  altogether  to  tracking  the  In- 
dians: and  111  order  to  insure  this,  and  to  prevent  the  possibility 
of  their  injuring  any  person  whatsoever,  that  thev  beP  muzzlel 

sssteisir*  "eldwi,h  a leash  whi,e 

Very  respectfully,  your  most  obedient  servant, 

Brig.  Gen.  Z.  Taylor,  j.  R.  POINSETT. 

Commanding  Army  of  the  South,  Florida. 

I now  ask  to  read  the  following  resolution,  which 
als3  shall  make  a part  of  my  speech: 

Mr.  Adams  submitted  the  following  resolution' 

Resolved,  That  the  Secretary  of  War  be  directed  to  report 
to  this  House  the  natural,  political,  and  martial  history  of  the 
bloodhounds,  showing  the  peculiar  fitness  of  that  class  of  war- 
riors to  be  the  associates  of  the  gallant  army  of  the  United 
states,  specifying  the  nice  discrimination  of  his  scent  between 
the  olood  of  the  freeman  and  the  blood  of  the  slave-be-tween 
the  blood  of  the  armed  warrior  and  that  of  women  or  children 
between  the  blood  of  the  black,  white,  and  colored  men — be- 
tween the  blood  of  savage  Seminoles  and  that  of  the  Anelo- 
Saxon  pious  Christian.  Also,  a statement  of  the  number  of 
bloodhounds  and  their  conductors,  imported  by  this  Govern- 
mertt  or  by  the  authorities  of  Florida,  from  the  Island  of  Cuba 
and  the  cost  of  that  importation.  Also,  whether  a further  im-’ 
portation  of  the  same  heroic  race  into  the  State  of  Maine  to 
await  the  contingency  of  a contested  Northeastern  boundary 
question,  is  contemplated,  or  only  to  set  an  example  to  be  fol- 
by  °ur  possib!e  a(]versary  in  the  event  of  a conflict. 
Whether  measures  have  been  taken  to  secure  exclusivelv  to 
ourselves  the  employment  of  this  auxilary  force,  and  whether 
he  deems  it  expedient  to  extend  to  the  said  bloodhounds  andi 
their  posterity  the  benefit  of  the  pension  laws. 

Mr.  i Jo  yd  demanded  the  yeas  and  nays  on  the  passage  of  the 

resalution;  which  were  ordered. 

Mr.  Adams  said,  inasmuch  as  the  yeas  and  nays  were  ordcr- 
ed,  he  would  wish  to  explain  before  the  question  was  taken. 
ru^be  resolution,  in  consequence,  was  laid  over  under  the 

Sir,  if  tqny  other  member  than  the  venerable  gen- 
tleman from  Massachusetts  had  offered  this  resolu- 
tion, I would  have  thought  him  a fit  subject  for  the 
dark  cell  of  a lunatic  asylum.  Or  if  his  reason  was 
evidently  so  as  to  prevent  such  a conclusion,  and 
knowing  that  he  had  read  the  communication  of  the 
Secretary  of  War,  (a  document  which  has  been  ly- 
ing on  our  desks  for  some  weeks,)  I would  have 
thought  he  was  wilfully,  designedly,  and  malicious- 
ly, attempting  to  practice  a base  fraud  upon  the 


22 


American  people,  and  a vile  slander  upon  the  Ad- 
ministration. 

I presume  it  is  not  the  intention  of  the  Secretary 
of  War  to  enrol  the  Spanish  bloodhounds  of  Flori- 
da with  the  pension  soldiers  of  the  Revolution. 
When  the  time  comes  that  dcgs  must  be  enrolled 
with  men,  I can  tell  you  a list  on  which  they  will  be 
placed.  I mean  the  black  list.  The  list  of  those 
who  violated  the  Constitution,  tramp’ed  upon  the 
sacred  rights  of  the  American  people,  and  debased 
the  purity  of  the  elective  franchise  in  1824,  by  the 
appointment  of  a man  to  the  highest  and  most  re- 
sponsible office  known  to  our  Government,  who 
was  not  of  the  people’s  choice. 

It  is  a principle  in  ethics  and  philosophy, that  there 
is  a time  and  place  for  every  thing;  and  it  is  a prin- 
ciple in  propriety  that  every  thing  should  be  in  its 
place.  If  dogs  are  to  be  enrolled  with  men,  let 
them  be  enrolled  with  those  who  have  disgraced 
their  stations  and  dishonored  their  Government. 
But  let  patriots  be  enrolled  with  patriots. 

If  the  solicitude  manifested  on  the  subject  of 
the  employment  of  bloodhounds  in  Florida  be  not 
the  result  <?f  morbid  humanity  and  Christian  sym- 
pathy, or  the  whining,  pining,  sniffling  cants  of  hy- 
pocrisy and  demagoguism,  when  had  it  its  begin- 
ning? 

I ask  your  attention  while  I read  the  conclusion 
of  a proclamation  of  the  pious  Governor  of  Penn- 
sylvania in  1764,  and  also  the  conclusion  of  the 
ordinance  of  the  court,  and  the  proclamation  of  his 
Excellency,  William  Shirley,  Governor  of  the  pun- 
tans  of  Massachusetts,  still  more  celebrated  for 
their  piety,  in  1744,  at  a time  when  piety  held  so 
high  a seat  that  the  man  who  would  so  iar  forget 
himself  as  to  kiss  his  wife  on  Sunday,  was  subject 
to  the  payment  of  a heavy  fine,  and,  for  aught  I 
know,  corporeal  punishment.  But  here  are  the 
extracts: 


County  Towns,  to  the  Keeper  of  the  Common  Gaols  there,  the 
Sum  of  ONE  HUNDRED  AND  FIFT\  &PANISH  DOL- 


“AND  WHEREAS,  itisnecessary  for  the  better  carrying  on 
offensive  Operations  against  our  Indian  Enemies,  and  bunging 
the  unhappy  war  with  them  to  a speedy  issue,  that  the  greatest 
Encouragement  should  be  given  to  all  His  Majesty  s Subjects 
to  exertand  use  their  utmost  endeavors  to  puisue,  attaclc,  taxe 
and  destroy  our  said  Enemy  Indians;  I DO  HEREHr  i)tj~ 
CLARE  AND  PROMISE,  That  there  shall  be  paid,  out  of  the 
Moneys  lately  granted  for  His  Majesty’s  Use,  to  all  and  every 
Person  and  Persons  not  in  the  Pay  of  this  Province,  the  follow 
ing  several  and  respective  Premiums  and  Bounties  for  fhe 
Prisoners  and  Scalps  of  the  enemy  Indians,  that  shall  be  ta- 
ken or  killed  within  the  Bounds  of  this  Province,  as  limited  by 
the  Royal  Chartei,  or  in  Pursuit  from  within  the  said  Bounds; 
that  is  to  say,  „ , , . 

“For  every  Male  Indian  Enemy,  above  Ten  Years  old,  who 
shall  be  taken  Prisoner,  and  delivered  at  any  Forts  garrisoned 
by  the  Tioops  in  the  Pay  of  this  Province,  or  at  any  ot  the 


LARS,  or  PIECES  OF  EIGHT.  , , 

41  For  every  Female  Indian  Enemy,  taken  Prisoner  an 
brought  in  as  aforesaid;  and  for  every  Male 
of  Ten  Years  old  or  under,  taken  Prisoner  and  deirvered  ^ 
aforesaid,  the  Sum  of  ONE  HUNDRED  AND  THIRTY 

^“^thtPIcALP  of  every  Male  Indian  Enemy,  above  the 
age  of  Ten  Years,  produced  as  evidence  of  their  being  killed, 
the  Sum  of  ONE  HUNDRED  AND  THIRTY-FOUR  PIECES 
O't?  T^KtHT  And 

“For  the  Scalp  of  every  Female  Indian  Enemy  above  the 

a^e  of  Ten  Years,  produced  as  evidence  ol  their  being  kiliea, 
thp  Sum  of  FIFTY  PIECES  OF  EIGHT. 

h“ AND  that  there  shall  be  paid  to  every  Officer  or  Officers, 
Soldier  or  Soldiers,  as  are  or  shall  be  in  the  Pay  of  this  Pro- 
vince,  who  shall  take,  bring  in,  and  produce,  any  Ind > an  Ene- 
my Prisoner  or  Scalp,  as  aforesaid,  ONE  HALr  of  the  saia 
several  and  respective  Premiums  ane  Bounties. 

“Given  unde? my  hand  and  Great  Seal  of  the  f aid  Province, 
at  Philadelphia,  the  Seventh  day  of  July,  ln  *e  Fourth 
year  of  His  Majesty’s  Reign,  and  in  the  reign  of  our  LORD 
one  thousand  seven  hundred  and  Sixty -Fom^  pexN 

By  His  Honour’s  Command. 

Joseph  Shippen,  junior,  Secretary. 

GOD  Save  the  KING.” 

So  much  for  pious  Pennsylvania;  now  for  the 

puritans.  . 

“On  the  26th  of  October  last  the  General  Court  of  this  Pro- 
vince voted,  that  there  shall  be  paid  out  of  thfe1Tu^.^^,as^ 
to  any  Company,  party,  or  person  singly,  of  his  Majesty  s sub 
jects  belonging  to  or  residing  within  this  I ro vince,  who  -hall 
voluntarily,  and  at  their  own  proper  cost  and  charge,  go  out  and 
kill  a male  Indian  of  the  age  of  twelve  years  or  upwards  of 
ths  tribe  of  St.  Johns  or  Cape  Sables,  after  the  twenty-sixth 
day  of  October  last  past,  and  before  the  last  day  of  June,  anno 
Domini  one  thousand  seven  hundred  and  forty-five  (or  for  such 
part  of  that  term  as  the  War  shall  continue,)  many  place  to 
the  Eastward  of  a line  to  be  fixed  by  the  Goveriiour  and I His 
Majesty’s  Council  of  this  Province  somewhere  to  the  Eas  ward 
of  Penobscot,  and  produce  his  scalp  in  evidence  of  his  death, 
the  sum  of  one  hundred  pounds  in  bills  of 

vince  of  the  New  Tenor,  and  the  sum  of  one  hundred  and  five 
pounds  in  said  bills  for  any  male  of  the  Uke  age  who  shall  be 
taken  Captive,  and  delivered  to  the  Order  of  the  Captain-Gene- 
ral to  be  at  disposal  and  for  the  use  of  the  Government  and  tlie 
sum  of  fifty  pounds  in  said  bills,  for  women;  and  the  like  sum 
for  children  under  the  age  of  twelve  years  kr led lhi  fight,  and 
fifty  five  pounds  for  such  of  them  as  shall  be  take  pi isoners. 

ofNovember  ins, a,*  His  Excellen 
cy,  with  the  advice  and  consent  of  the  Council,  a prodam 

tion  for  giving  public  notice  of  the  said  encoura0emei  , 

In  They  have  also  fixed  the  line  (to  the  Eastward  of  which  he 
=aid  Indians  may  be  slain  or  taken,  or  made  prisoneis)  which 
line  is  to  begin  on  the  sea  shore  at  three  leagues  distance  east- 
wardly  from  the  Easternmost  part  of  the  mouth 
dy  rivei,  and  thence  to  run  North  into  the  country  through  the 
Province  of  Nova  Scotia  to  the  river  St.  Lawrence. 

Sir  I would  like  to  comment  on  these  extracts, 
but  I must  leave  that  to  those  who  may  read  them, 
for  l have  alteady  consumed  too  much  of  the  time 
of  the  committee.  Permit  me  to  conclude,  by  re- 
turning my  sincere  thanks  for  ihe  patience  and  at- 
tention with  which  I have  been  heard. 


